Winter Break
by Satashi
Summary: Chiaki takes Maron to America to meet her father over the winter break at school, but thier vacation takes a turn for the worse when they get a reading on a demon. Now Maron must somehow seal a demon while keeping the fact that she's Jeanne from her paren
1. The departure

Yawning, I leaned my chair back on two legs as the class representative said his thing about the upcoming winter break and all the homework that needed to be done during it. The history report was due the day we came back as well as the math, science, English, everything. The class soon started to lose interest so I raised my hand and shouted out to him; "Yo, president, what happens if we don't do the work?"

Yamato looked at me, suddenly stern and serious thanks to my subtle encouragement. "You'll be in a lot of trouble, be given even more work to do, and fail everything that you didn't turn in with no exceptions." The class went silent a moment, giving him enough time to finish his speech without any more trouble.

Winter Break

By:

Satashi

Chiaki trotted a few steps to catch up to Maron and grinned at her while taking her backpack to carry for the girl. "What do you want to do over winter break?" he asked lightly as they walked. Yamato and Miyako were a few steps ahead of them arguing over the next best plan on catching two thieves that he, personally, didn't think would show up anymore for a while- if at all.

Miyako turned around and held up a finger, walking backwards. "My family is going to a ski resort!" she told them happily. "Everyone is invited, want to come with us?" Yamato looked over at her and for a moment got enough strength to ask her if he too was invited along as well.

Maron's eyes fell a little bit before looking up and smiling at her best friend. "I'm sorry, but I can't make it this time."

"Ah? But you always come with us! It won't be the same if you aren't with us at Christmas." Miyako looked at her with a mix of sadness and confusion.

Taking the hint, Chiaki picked up his pace and caught up to his friend "Linchou, what's going on?"

"Don't call me that while we're off from school," Yamato complained. "But anyway," He looked back at the two girls, going through an inner debate if she should say anything or not. "From what I know, Maron had always gone with Miyako during the winter and summer breaks. Since she lives alone, Miyako always drags her with her own family."

"I see…" He cast a quick glance behind his shoulder at the pair. Maron was waving something Miyako said off with a blush. She caught his eye a moment and blushed harder, looking away. "I'll ask her about it later tonight I guess."

"What are your plans?"

"Me?" Chiaki looked upwards in thought while breathing in the crisp winter air. "No plans. Never really thought about it before." With everything that has been going on with him lately, he was amazed he still went to school as much as he did. His attendance was a lot lower than the average person but thanks to his father being a doctor, he got them all excused at least. Maron wasn't as lucky and more than a few times, he had to lie for her, telling the teacher that she had a cold when she was really resting after a theft. A quick moment shot by Chiaki's mind where he was actually glad that he and his father wrote the same.

"This is where I split, then." Yamato waved to his group of friends and went off his own way. His friends all shouted out their goodbyes along with Miyako finally telling him that he was also invited to go with her and her family plus Jeanne task force.

Their apartment complex came into view a little later and Miyako waited at the elevator as her friends checked their mail. Chiaki got a handful out, being the first of the month, while Maron only got a little note from Chiaki. She read it there like always and Miyako observed her face grow darker before she turned to her boyfriend and stomped her foot. "Chiaki! Don't leave things like that in my mailbox!"

"Like what?" He asked absently as he looked at the random junk mail and bills in his box while walking to the elevator. The ride up was quiet thanks to a blushing Maron and a pre-occupied Chiaki. The only female of the group that felt like talking at the moment sighed and instead tried to see the note Chiaki left her bet friend.

_Maron,_

_It may be cold outside but I'll always be here to keep you warm._

She didn't see why that would cause Maron to blush as bad as she was, so Maron bent down to tie her shoe and see if anymore was written on it

_P.S. My bed is always warm too, Baby!_

A hot blush shot over Miyako's face and she quickly stammered to finish her shoelace. When the door opened she hurried over to her door and waved over to them. "See you tomorrow! Lets go shopping, Maron." She opened her door without giving her a chance to respond and greeted her mother as she went in.

Chiaki finally looked over to Maron when they reached their apartments and gave her the bag he was holding. She gave him a small thank you and opened her door, only giving Fin a half hearted smile as she was greeted. The door to her apartment closed and Chiaki stood at his door, suddenly missing the quick peck on his cheek that she normally gave him when they got home.

Letting out a small sigh, the boy unlocked and opened up his own apartment door and stepped in to a greeting from Access. "Access, I need some buddy." He tossed his backpack carelessly on the floor like he always did and kicked off his shoes. "I need to find out two things. One: What made Maron so sad today and two: What can we do to cheer her up?"

"I'm already two steps ahead of you, Sinbad." Access motioned for him to follow and lead him to his living room, where a magazine was on the table. "It's in here somewhere…" Access turned the pages as fast as he could with his small hands. "There, finally." He pointed to the large two page advertisement that was now displayed in the book.

"The amusement park in the Yakazini district will receive a make over by…" Chiaki's eyes widened. "Access, that's Maron's father!"

"Keep reading." Access sat down on the table and waited for his partner to finish.

The pages were folded so Chiaki could hold it with one hand and keep reading while he rooted through his cabinets for some type of snack. "The famous architect will be drawing out the plans for the renovations but due to family issues, will not be able to come to Japan personally to oversee the construction. Known best for what has been accepted as the best park to date; the Maron Dome in America, the new plans for the local amusement park will be based off…" His words trailed off as he started to eat from a bag of chips.

"So basically, Maron's old man is going to be at the Maron Dome in America for a few days before drawing out the plans for the one here…" He sighed and tossed the magazine across the room before falling down onto his couch. "Well that's just great. No wonder Maron's so sad. Her father was supposed to come here but isn't. Ne, Access, I bet that's why she isn't going with Miyako, huh?"

"Go where?"

"Never mind," he sat up and walked over to the balcony. "I'm going over to Maron's place for a bit."

"You know her door is just as close as jumping balconies, don't you Sinbad?"

Ignoring his angel, Chiaki hopped easily over onto her balcony and let himself in through her always unlocked sliding door. A quick glance around told him that she didn't even bother to turn on the lights. Seeing as how Fin was no where to be found, he assumed the girl was in her bedroom. He walked over to her open door and leaned against the doorframe. Maron was facing her closet, taking off her skirt in favor of a pair of sweatpants to lounge around in. Fin was on her shoulder and the two were talking about something that Chiaki wasn't paying attention to. Instead his eyes were fixed on Maron's bottom half. "Baby got back!"

Maron literally screamed out I surprise and had to grab the closet door to keep herself from falling down. "Chiaki, don't you ever _knock_?" She threw her skirt at him, covering his eyes. Thanks to Fin, he was occupied long enough for his girlfriend to fully cloth herself by the time his vision was returned to him.

"Aw, I should have kept my mouth shut…"

Maron sighed in annoyance. "What do you want?"

Chiaki's mind went back onto the reason why he went over to her home in the first place. "I didn't get a kiss today," he pointed to his cheek. "So I came to get it." His girlfriend rolled her eyes and walked up to him. Her head lifted up as she stood on her tip toes, but Chiaki stopped her before her lips could peck against his face. "I decided that I owed you one, though." He smiled at her confused look and kissed her temple.

The simple act worked as he hoped it would and she noticeably calmed down. His arms went around her from behind and he soon had her in his favorite position with her back against his chest. "What do you want to do for Christmas break?"

"Nothing," She looked down.

"Come on, there's something."

"No there isn't, please let me go. I don't want to be hugged right now."

"Yes you do. Tell me what you want to do."

"Nothing!" she moved to pull away from him, but his arms wrapped tighter.

"Tell me where you want to go."

"Chiaki let me _go_!" He could tell she was about to cry, but didn't let her go.

"Say it Maron!"

"America!" the word escaped her lips before she could stop it. "I want…" her breath caught and he could feel a tear drop land on his arm. "To go to America…" Her body went slack where she stood as Chiaki retracted one arm from her. She head him press a few buttons on his cell phone, but didn't bother asking who he was calling.

"Dad! It's me." He leaned back a little from her and took her hand with his. "I need a favor…. Yeah, I know… Yes… Actually no, I'm not coming home for break… That's why… Yeah… America, I need two plane tickets and passports." Maron turned around quickly, looking up at him with shocked and panicked eyes. "Tomorrow?" He looked over at Maron, who couldn't seem to say anything. "Yeah, tomorrow is fine. I'll come by before I go out and work extra hours when I get back to cover everything that I buy."

She swallowed thickly as the boy finished up his conversation and finally flipped his phone closed. The look he gave her said all it needed to. All she ever had to do was say the word and he would take her anywhere. "Chiaki… I …"

"Start packing," He cut her off so she wouldn't have to worry about thanking him. "I have to go by the hospital tonight to get everything in order. Dad will meet us at the airport tomorrow with our passports, so you don't have to worry about that." Chiaki walked over to her door and smiled at the almost crying girl. "If you need me, I'll have my cell phone on me. Be sure to pack enough since we'll be gone for two weeks."

Finally Maron seemed to remember how to move and quickly gave him a hug, crying in his chest. "Chiaki…"

"Hey now," He gently stroked her hair and held her lightly. "Don't worry, everything is fine. We'll have a blast so go ahead and start getting ready." She nodded into his chest before pulling back just enough to look up at him. Torn between grabbing her butt or kissing her, Chiaki let enough time slip by for her to make the decision for him by leaning up on her toes and flaking her lips against his.

* * *

Chiaki grinned lightly the next morning as Miyako and Maron fussed at each other about the luggage that she was bringing on her trip. After the initial shock of breaking the news to them, Miyako's family soon were making themselves busy helping her get ready for it. Her mother had made them cookies to eat on the plane while her father arranged to be able to drive them to the airport himself. Currently he was leaning against the car outside their building with his friend and class president while the girls continued to argue on what was 'too much' and 'not enough' luggage.

"So She's going to be able to meet her parents, huh?" Yamato asked, sliding his hands into his pockets to keep warm. He had on a dark green sweater and blue jeans. Beside him Chiaki had a matching dark blue sweater with jeans as well. A light fog came from their mouths as they talked and Yamato was glad that he had swapped to contacts so his glasses wouldn't fog up on him during days like this.

"Hopefully. Truth is I have no idea as to how I'm going to meet up with him." Chiaki sighed and looked down. "All I can do for her is be able to take her there and look after her. We're going to have to pull something insane to get to talk to the architect of the park."

"Maybe I can do something, my uncle has a company branch off in America," Yamato turned around and reached into the car they were leaning against to find his cell phone. "I may be able to at least get you a car. You can drive, right?"

"Yeah, that would be great, Yamato!" Chiaki walked around to the other side of the car to try and help him find the phone. "Dad got me a hotel room and passports but I was going to have to find a car on my own once I got there."

Miyako and Maron stepped outside the building, each holding a small suitcase. Both of them belonged to Chiaki, as he packed only fifteen shirts and seven pairs of pants for his entire trip there. Looking over to the car, Miyako sighed and shook her head. "You are a lucky girl, Maron."

"Why do you say that?" She blinked and looked over at her friend before following her pointed finger to the boy bending over with his top half in the car.

"He has _such_ a cute butt."

Maron blinked as Chiaki stood up from the other side of the car. "But Miyako, Chiaki is on the other side." She pointed as well, making her eyes go from one boy to the other. Finally Yamato pulled out of the window and said something about making a phone call. "Ohhhh, Miyako," She elbowed her blushing and confused friend. "If you like Yamato, why don't you just say so?"

"It's not that, I mean, I was saying," She watched Yamato laugh and hop onto the hood of the car to make the call. "Just every now and then, when he's confident about himself, he looks just a little…. Cool, that's all."

Maron had to agree. Both times when he was possessed by a demon and given all the confidence in the world, the girls at school had flocked to him. Since then he had somehow became a good friend to them and slowly changed to be more of his true self that he always hid. "Come on then, let's not make them wait."

As the girls walked to the car, the entire Jeanne special task force slowly trudged out of the apartment building as well. Each one was carrying an insanely large bag that was packed full of things. Chiaki's jaw dropped when he saw it all. "There's no way that's fitting in the car!" he pointed at them, shocked. "No, just no. You have to leave some of that behind."

"I can't leave without this stuff!" She scolded him, stomping her foot. "These are all _vitals_!"

"Vitals?" He countered with a half laugh in his voice. "You took every single outfit in your closet! No, I don't even think all that would _fit_ in your closet!"

"I need them!" She came up to him and got close to his face. "You just don't understand."

"We can't take them all."

"We can. Or else."

"Or else, what?" He grinned at her. Maron smiled sweetly up at him and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Miyako watched amused as his face went from cocky to shocked to alarmed. "You serious?" He asked her, getting a curt nod. "…Fine, load it up." He jerked his thumb to the car and went back to leaning against it dejectedly.

"What did you tell him?" Miyako asked, pleased at her friend.

Maron turned and winked at her. "Only that he wouldn't be able to touch me at all during the entire trip."

"That all?" she raised an eyebrow and got a smirk in return.

"And that I would take back everything that I got at Victoria's Secret." She winked at her friend and held her finger up like a gun pointed at Chiaki. "Bang"

* * *

"Chiaki!" the voice caught the boy's attention and lead it over to his father, who was standing next to the loading dock to the plane. "Over here!"

He let go of Maron's hand and walked to his father, grudgingly patting his back when he hugged him. "Minazuki's uncle called me; they'll have a car waiting to pick you up at the airport. Also here's the address and phone number of the hospital that my best friend runs. If you ever need anything just call him up." He looked at his son and smiled. "Don't forget that you promised to work with me when you got back!"

"Yeah, yeah. You have the passports?" he held out his hand and received two small pocket sized folders. Flipping through them he nodded to himself. "Good."

"Also, here." His father handed him a folded sheet of paper. "Don't forget that Maron's father is my friend. I arranged a meeting with him. He's expecting me to meet him at that café at that time." Although Chiaki never told him the real reason he was going, it must have been pretty obvious when he asked for Maron to come with him.

"…. Thanks, Dad." Chiaki looked around a moment, and then turned around to double check to see if anyone was looking at him. Finally after triple checking the Maron's attention was on Miyako, Chiaki gave his father another hug.

"Aw how sweet!" Maron's voice instantly perked up, making Chiaki's eyes go wide. "Chiaki is hugging his father!"

Almost the next second a chorus of "Awwwwww"s rang out, making Chiaki immediately try and pull away from his father, who wasn't letting go.

* * *

Maron looked out of the plane and touched the small window with her hand. "I'm really going aren't I?" She thought aloud, making Chiaki look over at her. "To America… I'm going to meet my dad." She didn't turn to look at him, but her hand reached over to his and loosely gripped two of his fingers. "I wonder what he looks like. I wonder what he'll say to me. I wonder what I should say to him." Her questions didn't mean to have any answers but Chiaki felt like he should try to say something to her anyway.

"Maybe he agreed to come to Japan to work on our park so he would have a reason to stop by and see you?" His reasoning was a far shot but Maron's hand gripped his fingers just a little more tightly. "Since, you know, anything holding onto your parents would be released. So, um, maybe he's just as scared to come back to you as you are to contact him."

"And my mother?"

Chiaki thought about it a moment as his girlfriend gazed out the small window. "The article mentioned his family, so maybe your mother is there with him. You never know," He trailed off on his sentence. Truthfully he wanted to tell her that maybe they were going to get back together, but he knew that if he voiced the thought that she too was obviously thinking then it would only be that much harder on her if it wasn't true. "At any rate, we're going. We'll meet your father. From there, it's all up to fate."

"Fate, huh?" She turned to look at Fin, who was asleep in the little carry-on bag that Maron had in her lap. "Sometimes I think that fate owes me something from everything that I've been put through." Turning to him, she smiled. "You too,"

"No, Fate doesn't owe me anything." He gave her a cocky grin that she never knew to hate or love when he flashed it. "To me, I think we're even." His hand turned over, freeing itself of her fingers and instead trapping all of hers in its hold. "After all, I was given an Angel."

"You say something, Sinbad?" Access asked, landing on his shoulder after coming back from looking around the plane.

Maron's free hand shot to her mouth to cover a laugh. Her eyes shone at him happily, though, and he knew that she got what he was _trying_ to say. "You're sweet, Chiaki… Sometimes." He gave her a look, but she still kissed his cheek. The simple little act made him give her a goofy little smile that she was sure only she ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Access jumped from his partner's shoulder and landed next to the sleeping Fin. He sat down next to her and looked at the white winged angel. "It's a long flight, Access," Chiaki told him. "Might as well get some sleep if you're tired."

Access took the hint and used it to his advantage to lie down next to his love interest. Although they were back to back, Chiaki once remembered Access telling him that touching an angel's wings was a sign of affection. Fin somehow didn't mind the company and scooted closer to him in her sleep. Maron gave her friend a small smile before closing the lid just until it wanted to click shut and sat it between the seats. "How long is the flight?"

"About sixteen hours." He took small bottle from his chest pocket and took out some pills. "These will keep you from getting air sick, and will help you sleep most of the way." He handed her two before taking some himself.

The airline stewardess came up to the front and started talking to them about the flight and how long it'll take, but Chiaki's mind stayed on the girl next to him, who was once again touching the glass window and staring outside as if she could find the answers to her problems there.

* * *

A/N: Part two coming soon. Hopefully I'll get it all done in three chapters, maybe four if I get some good reviews. Check back in a few days for the next chapter. 


	2. America

Groaning, I lazily opened my eyes and wondered what had awakened me from my sleep. The airline stewardess was talking again, trying to inform her passengers that they would be landing shortly. I went to rub my eyes, but found my right arm being unable to move. Inspecting it, I noticed Maron's arms encircling it with her head resting on my shoulder. I slowly pried it from her death grip, waking her in the process, and rubbed it sorely. Although she had a comfortable position, I was sure my poor arm would hurt for the rest of the day.

**Winter Break II**

**By: Satashi**

"Crowded," was all Maron could say as the two looked around the airport. Fin sat on her shoulder wile Access chose rather to sit on top of Chiaki's head. "How on earth are we supposed to find anything in a place like this?"

"It's not so bad," Chiaki point off to the side. "That's where we pick up our luggage. Then we go over there," he moved his hand to point in another direction. "And we'll get our car. From there we'll head to the hotel."

"You've done this before?" She looked at him impressed. "Wow, I never thought you'd left the country before." Maron followed after him and showed her passport to the officer when Chiaki did so. "Where did you go?"

"I've never left the country before," He grinned and nodded his head in an upwards fashion. "I just read the signs."

Maron looked upward, where a large sign that said 'Luggage collection' in big bold letters. "Oh. I see." Truthfully she didn't even think to translate the sign to understand it. In school, luckily for her, the subject she excelled in was English. She assumed it was because it was very similar to French, which she had known fluently since the first time she transformed. "Wait a moment, you can read English?"

"Of course," he looked at her as if she was stupid. "Almost every single medical book is in English. America has always had better medical technology. You lose information in translations so Dad always got them in English. I learned the language without even thinking about it."

"I see," She filed the information off in her mind to remember not to underestimate him about anything in the future. "Well then we're set on language then. That's a plus." The pair somehow managed to fight their way through the crowd and claim their belongings. A few moments later they emerged from the building and into a parking lot. Their eyes sweeped the area before Maron spotted someone holding a sign that said 'Nagoya' on it. "Chiaki," her hand grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and she pointed. "I think that's for you."

He looked over to the man and made eye contact. "I'm Chiaki Nagoya," he greeted the man in English, somehow remembering to put his first name fist instead of what he was used to.

"Mr. Nagoya, welcome to America." The man holding the sign extended his hand, which Chiaki shook after setting down Maron's load of baggage. "Minazuki has instructed me to insure that you get your car as well as anything else that you should need."

"Right now, I'd just like to get to my hotel."

"I will take you there. Where do you have reservations?"

Chiaki rooted through his pockets a moment before Maron tapped him on the shoulder and handed him the pamphlet that had all the information on it. He gave her a sheepish grin and looked at it, assuming the man couldn't read Japanese. "The Sheraton, it's on 213 Johnson Street. If you can just tell me directions I'm sure I can find it."

"Oh no sir, I was instructed to take you anywhere you need to be." He handed Chiaki a card that had his name and phone number on it. "The Minazuki Corporation has sent me specifically to you on request from the grandson of the Japanese main branch. Just give me a call and I will come pick you up at anytime. We have a separate driver for night shifts so please never hesitate to use our services."

"You mean," Maron pointed to the limousine behind the man speaking to them. "We're going to ride in _that_?"

"Of course," He opened the door for them. "Please, step in. the heater is already on and I will take care of your belongings."

Maron did as she was asked, glad to get out of the wind. Her boyfriend soon followed and grinned at her as the man closed the door. "Says here his name is Jack," he told her, naturally going back into Japanese language. "We have to call Yamato later and thank him for this. Don't tell anyone but I was a little nervous about driving over here." He winked at her, getting a giggle.

"My Hero. Where are we anyway?"

"In a limo."

She slapped his arm and grinned. "No, really. Where are we?"

"New York." He showed her a map that he apparently just got from Jack. Pointing to it, he started to explain. "We're right here now. This area," he circled a section out with his finger. "Is the amusement park, Maron Dome. It's out of the city, probably an hour or so drive. Not really sure since I don't even know what traffic is like here or whatever. But anyway, we're on the other side of town. Once we get settled in we'll get some dinner, sightsee a bit, and then get some sleep."

"I slept enough on the plane."

"It's called Jet-lag," he touched her nose, making her blink. "If we don't get used to the time schedule over here now we'll be sleepy all daytime over here." His finger trailed down her lips and lifted her chin up just enough to steal a kiss. Maron gave it to him contently; happy at one of his rare affectionate spells. It was quickly ruined, however, when his hand grabbed her breast.

The window toward the front of the limo rolled down and Jack looked back at them, where Maron was smiling and Chiaki rubbing his cheek. "The glass is soundproof," he explained to them. "So if you would like to tell me anything, press the button next to the window and it'll roll down. Is there anywhere else you want to go before your hotel?"

"No, just the hotel," Maron told him with a happy look.

"Yes 'mam." The window rolled up at Maron turned to Chiaki, suddenly angry at him again.

"Can't you keep your hands to yourself for _five_ minutes?"

"It's _your_ fault!"

"How is it my fault?" she demanded, glaring.

"If you weren't so beautiful I wouldn't be tempted," he countered her smoothly, flashing the smile that made girls melt before him.

Maron wasn't fooled by it though, but instead looked away with a light blush. "I don't mind, but not in public, geeze."

Arms snaked around her waist and she found herself pulled into his lap. "So, when we get to our hotel…?" He trailed off his sentence and nuzzled her neck. Maron flushed, tried to stammer out an answer, and finally turned to look at him. Chiaki had his chin resting on her shoulder while giving her big puppy dog eyes. "I just want to hold you, Maron."

Giving in, she couldn't help but give him a smile. "You're so cute sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" He smiled up at her cutely.

"Don't push your luck." She touched his nose and winked.

"You ever get the feeling you're being ignored?" Access asked Fin, who at some point started to fly around on the inside of the limousine.

* * *

"Wow. Just wow." Chiaki walked into the room that he would be spending the next two weeks in. The bellhop brought the rest of their things in while he started to inspect things and hop on the bed. Maron soon joined him in ogling their room, commenting on how they even had a stove and microwave. "It's like a one room-home!"

Maron pointed to the single bed and raised an eyebrow quizzically at him. "Mighty sure of yourself aren't you?"

"Hey, Dad reserved it, not me." Chiaki smiled and crawled on the bed over to her, grabbing her and tossing her down on it as well. "Are you complaining?" He lent down and started kissing her neck.

"Mmmm…. Chiaki, I want to go sight seeing today too." Her fingers threaded through his hair and her head titled to give him more to kiss. "Can't you wait until tonight? I –Ahn- want to…..to….." Her eyes closed and she took a long intake of air as his kisses drifted lower and her shirt was re-arranged. "Okay, five minutes…" A hot blush shot over her face. "Ten. Ten minutes."

Ignoring his partner's whims, Access flew over to the Window and threw the curtains back to look out. "Maron!" Fin's words caught his ear but he didn't seem interested. "Maron you're too young to do that! Chiaki stop kissing her!" He finally turned to look and was quite amused to see Chiaki quite literally be pulled off her by the small angel.

"But, but!" Chiaki looked to Maron back to fin, then again to Maron who was now embarrassedly fixing her shirt. "Aw man I was _so _close. SO close!" He sighed as Maron patted his hair on the way to her suitcases.

"Let's unpack, get some food, then you're taking me to the statue of liberty." She unzipped the bag in front of her, but slid it out of the way. "Here, this one's yours."

"No it's not, I only have two bags," He looked down into it and blinked. "Huh? I didn't pack that."

"I did," she answered him while going through one of her own and filling a drawer up with her pajamas. "I knew you wouldn't pack enough so I did all your packing for you."

"I can pack just fine!" He grabbed fistfuls of his cloths and started shoving them randomly into another large drawer.

"You forgot your toothbrush, comb, deodorant…"

Chiaki paused as he realized that she was right. "I-I was going to buy some more when I got here." His packing speed increased and Maron actually saw a faint bit of embarrassed red run across his face.

"Sure, sure."

The unpacking lasted the better part of half an hour, mainly because Maron refused to let Chiaki help her finish after he had found the suitcase which held her underwear. She confined him and Access to the bed and continued to finish the job while he watched TV. When she was done, she announced that she was getting rather hungry and asked if Chiaki would buy her dinner.

"You guys have fun," Access waved at them, flipping through the channels when Chiaki abandoned his remote. "I'm gonna stay here and chill."

"Don't you want to see America?" Maron asked him, leaning down and looking at the small angel who shrugged. "And you, Fin?"

The other angel in the room looked around before going to the window. "I'm going to fly around and look. I can find my way back by honing in on Access's power."

"Be good, Access," Chiaki gave his partner a goodbye and headed out, soon followed by Maron. As they walked down the hallway, the male called Jack and asked him to pick them up. After clicking off his phone he grinned down at his girlfriend. "He's in the parking lot. Aprently they just kind of wait around on you."

"How convenient." She clasped her hands behind her back as they walked. "By the way, Chiaki…" He made a small sound to show he was listening to her. "I kind of don't have any money…"

"Of course not. We didn't stop to get our yen transferred into dollars."

She stopped walking and blinked. "If you knew that, how do you plan on paying for things? We left so quickly there was no way I could get any money together for this!"

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a credit card. "This." His fingers twisted and he revealed a similar one behind the first. "The second one is yours," He handed it to her. "They are linked to my account in Japan. Dad has it set so it will withdraw from the hospital that he owns. Whatever we spend here, I'll pay back by working when we get back. Shouldn't take more than a week or two."

"You really are rich…" She took the card, that had 'Maron Kusakabe c/o Chiaki Nagoya' printed neatly on it in English. "I still don't like taking your money like this…"

"I expect you to pay it all back," He grinned at her.

"Of course," She looked away.

"With one thousand kisses." He leaned over and kissed her temple. "First payment made, nine-hundred, ninety-nine left." He gave her a cute look, which she returned laughing. Grabbing his arm, they continued along the way to the limo that waited downstairs.

* * *

"Are we there already?" Maron asked as the limo stayed stopped for longer than what she expected a red light would last. "Where are we?"

Chiaki made his way to the front of the limo and pressed the button to roll down the window that divided the driver from them. "Hey Jack, what's the hold up?" His eyebrows rose lightly when he saw several police cards around the area ahead of them. "What's going on?"

"A gang war," Jack informed him, slowly starting to flow with the traffic as the police detoured them around. "Lately the two rival gangs have been going at each other for turf. It weird, though, they used to not bother with it. The Cartion gang is known for being defensive, not aggressive. Lately they've been attacking the 'lords gang." Turning back to him, Jack grinned. "But don't worry, we're going around them and with our services you'll never be walking alone so there's nothing to fear."

"Alright then. Thanks." Chiaki leaned back and made his way back over to Maron as the window rolled up. "Maron, he says that… What is it?"

"I could have sworn that it beeped at me," She told him, holding her clair. "I heard it, but when I looked it was silent."

"You're imagining things. There hasn't been an attack for three months now. Don't worry about it." He sat down next to her and put one hand over the rosary around his neck. No ill feeling came to him so he disregarded the situation. "Maybe it was your cell phone."

"…Yeah…"

* * *

"Did you find anything, Fin?" Access asked as the girl flew into their hotel room.

"I felt something bad while I was over in one of the darker areas of town, but it didn't seem to be a demon. Or if it was; a very weak one."

"You think the devil is trying something again?"

She shook her head. "There are several small demons running around on earth. Not all of them are after hearts for power. Maybe it is just one looking out of greed."

"But still, a human is possessed?"

She looked down. "Yeah. We should tell-"

"-No," Access cut her off. "They don't need to know. If Jeanne found out about all the small ones running around, she would start checkmating again, even though they hold no threat against us."

"And Chiaki?"

"Sinbad would ignore them, unless Jeanne started going out again. It would get out of hand. I'm sure he would go around nightly sealing them just so Jeanne wouldn't have to. If they started colleting chess pieces then the power would grow and stronger demons would attack_ us_ to collect the power. Besides, we're in America. It's not our area."

Fin sat down on the bed next to him. "I suppose you're right. No harm done." She blushed as Access's wing brushed hers. "Access…"

"Hm? What is it?" He turned to look over at her, only to get slapped.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" Fin humped at him and flew away, grumbling about Chiaki's bad influences on him.

* * *

Chiaki sighed to himself as he fumbled for the keycard to his door later that night. They had gotten back around midnight, but neither of them were tired yet so he went to get them some drinks from the vending machine down the hall. He was thankful that his debit card also acted as an ATM as well.

Upon entering his room, he kicked off his shoes and walked around the small corner to the beds. "Here you go, Maron, I got you a… a…. "His eyes drifted over her. She wore a skimpy tank top that showed her stomach and what appeared to be a pair of short shorts and precious little else. She gave him a confused look and reached out to him to collect her drink, the motion showing him the underside of her breast. "A shower," he pointed to the bathroom suddenly. Maron tilted her head to the side quizzically. "I mean the shower. I'm going to." His eyes couldn't leave her, and his breath caught in his throat from the enticing sight. "Taking one, I mean. Yeah. I'm going to take a shower." He took a step back, stumbled over the shoes he just kicked off, and retreated back into the bathroom, panting. "A freezing _cold_ shower…"

When he emerged again half an hour later, he found Maron still sitting on the bed, only this time with the covers up to her chin in an attempt to keep warm without making the room too hot with the heater. "American shows are weird," She informed him, still channel surfing. "I haven't found one thing that's really _worth_ watching."

"Really?" He sat behind her with his legs on either side of her and gently wrapped his hands around her waist. "Nothing at all?"

"Nuh-uh." She waited a moment for him to grope her in some way so she could stop it before it started. Access and Fin were already asleep on a spare pillow on the table but she was still a little shy about being affectionate with him while they were in the same room. When no touching followed she turned back to look at him. "Chiaki?"

"Hm?" He gave her his attention. When she didn't say anything for a while, he tried again. "What?"

"You're not going to grab me?"

"No, why?"

"You're just going to sit there and not take advantage of me in a hotel room in another country while I'm in my underwear?"

"I just want to hold you, is that bad?"

She eyes him skeptically. "You just want to hold me?"

"Un." He nodded.

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're not lying to get my guard down?"

"No, really."

"You only want to hold me and not strip me down naked and pin me on the bed and ravish me until I scream your name over and over in throws of passion?"

"…Well I _didn't_!"

She checked his temperature. "Well you don't feel sick…"

"Hey, can't I just hold you every now and then?" He looked a little offended, but suddenly didn't know what to feel when her look on him changed. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He blinked and found her soon shifting in his lap with her arms around his neck. A few gentle kisses followed, preceded by the turning off of the TV.

"You're so cute sometimes," She whispered to him, kissing again. "You can hold me anytime you want." She felt herself being laid back onto the bed and smiled. A long moment passed where the two whispered to each other in between kisses.

Access snored lightly across the room, spread out on the pillow with Fin, somehow, using his stomach for a pillow herself. The small girlish giggles from Maron didn't seem to faze them, nor did the small squeaks that soon followed. Fin shifted lightly and brought one hand up to hold onto Access's in her sleep. A moment of silence followed before Maron's words drifted out in the night. "Mm… be gentle."

* * *

"Maron? Maron wake up already!" Fin's voice pestered her until the girl slowly opened one eye. "Finally. Come on Maron, it's already past nine here. You're supposed to be at the Maron Dome today at one Remember?"

"Oh yeah…" She thought aloud, still half asleep. "Wake me up at twelve then…" She snuggled closer to Chiaki and brought the covers up over her chin.

"You need to get up _now_!" Fin scolded, flying down to her ear. "Maron!"

"Fine, fine, I'm getting up. I'm getting up." She slowly sat up in her bed, keeping the covers to her chin. "Thank you, Fin."

"Does he _always_ sleep without a shirt on?" Fin asked in a cross between embarrassed and protective way of Maron. "I swear he's always trying to take advantage of you."

"Actually…" Maron blushed darkly; glancing around to make sure Access was still asleep before lowering the covers.

"Maron?" Fin shrieked out, stuttering around her full blush. "You _didn't_?"

She scratched the back of her head a moment in a shy manor before turning to look at Chiaki, who muttered her name in his sleep and lightly moved his arm to try and find her again. Her eyes shone at him as she leaned over to peck his temple. "Stay asleep; I'll wake you when I'm out of the shower."

Fin landed on her shoulder and proceeded to cry about how she had lost 'her Maron' to the 'perverted enemy of all women'. Maron consoled her, more amused than sorry, and decided to leave out the fact that they had been that close ever since the night of the final battle. Finally she calmed down her angel enough to take a hot shower.

When she emerged again, she had a towel wrapped around her waist and was thankful of it when she saw Access sitting up on his pillow, obviously awoken by the hair dryer. Fin distracted him easily enough while she got dressed and then crawled onto the bed where Chiaki still slept. She blew lightly across his face, making him squint his eyes. A giggle passed and she did it again, this time making him reach up to rub his face. "Chi-a-ki," She cooed his name, finally making him look at her. "Get up. We need to leave soon."

"Okay…" He got up on the first try and scratched his hair, which was sticking up everywhere. "Aw, I wanted to shower with you." His remark was interrupted half way by a yawn but Maron still gave him an appreciative smile/blush combo.

"Tonight maybe. Get ready, please?"

"Okay," He called out to Access and the two went into the bathroom for their morning shower.

"Mou," Fin complained as Maron bathed in her after glow of love making. "You're too young to be doing that. Are you listening to me Maron? Maron!"

* * *

"Is this the place?" Maron grabbed Chiaki's arm suddenly, making him stop. "He's supposed to be here, right?" She looked around the Café at the Amusement Park. "I-I don't even know what he looks like. Slowly she moved behind him and looked around his shoulder. "What if he doesn't want to see me?"

"It's too late to get cold feet, Maron." He told her gently, looking over his shoulder at her. "My dad already contacted Takumi and confirmed the meeting place." He looked at the little note in his hand and pointed. "Section C, table fourteen." He moved his hand to the right and left it pointing to a table where two people were sitting with their backs to them. The female had long brown hair that matched Maron's, and the male with short hair that looked the same.

"Dad…Mom… They're together…" Maron's hand gripped Chiaki's arm almost painfully hard. "What if their 'family issues' is deciding who has to take care of me after the divorce? What if they are only together so one can walk away free…? What if…"

"Maron!" Chiaki turned on her, ripping his arm free. "Don't think like that. Be strong." He held her shoulders to keep them from shaking.

"I'm not strong! I'm _scared_!" Tears formed in her eyes and the noise made Fin and Access emerge from her purse, where they had been riding. "I'm too scared, I can't do this. If they say I'm not wanted…. If they don't need me…" She looked up at him, crying freely. "How can I live on my own again after hearing that?"

"I understand." Chiaki pulled up a chair and gently pushed Maron into it. She was behind her parents and out of the way so they couldn't see her but could still hear. Maron looked up at him confused, and gripped the chair harder when he started walking over to the pair. Her hand reached out desperately to catch his but it missed by a mere few inches. Her mouth opened to call out to him but somehow her voice wouldn't come.

Access flew over to Chiaki and landed on his shoulder. "You know what you're doing, Sinbad?"

"No." He stood in front of the two, who looked up at him. The male got to his feet and offered his hand to him before stopping and giving him a confused look. "I'm his son," Chiaki answered the unasked question. "Truthfully, my dad wasn't going to meet you, I asked him to set it up so I could. I'm assuming you're Kusakabe Takumi, Kusakabe Koron?" He made an extra emphasis on their last names. When they gave him an odd look he wondered if they even spoke Japanese anymore after all the time spent away.

"Nice to meet you." Takumi finally said. "You look just like your father." He motioned to the girl beside him. "You Aprently already know us, but I'll introduce anyway. This is Koron, my fiancée."

Chiaki saw Maron's shoulders get stiff at the mention of the word. "Why would you want to meet us?" Koron asked politely, if not a bit confused.

"I came on behalf of your daughter." Both of them flinched at the mentioning of Maron. "What the hell have you two been doing all this time?" He demanded, suddenly aware of all the pent up frustration he had at the pair in front of him. "I understand from up to three months ago, but after that there is _no_ reason you didn't hop the first flight home!" His fist slammed on the table, making a few people look at him. "Aren't you _worried_ about her?"

The two adults looked away from him. A moment of silence passed before Takumi answered. "It's not that. I don't know how you know about what happened three months ago, but it's not like we haven't tried." He met Chiaki's eyes. "It was like waking from a nightmare. All of a sudden everything came crashing down on me all at once. I called Koron that night and she said she felt the exact same way."

"Why didn't you call Maron?" Chiaki once again demanded.

"We didn't even know what was going on with _us_!" Koron finally spoke, her voice breaking into a sob. "I just can't face her like this… I'm so scared she'll yell at me and tell me to never see her again, that she can live alone like she had been…"

"We just wanted some time to collect ourselves before going back to Japan and confronting her…" Takumi was speaking again to him. "That's why I took the job of remodeling the amusement park there. But we couldn't go back divorced-"

"So we decided to re-apply our vows here before coming back."

"But who are you to ask us all of this? How do you know Maron?"

Chiaki looked behind them, seeing Maron standing up, tears falling down her face with a bright smile. Fin nodded over at him to show that she was ready to meet them, so the boy answered the question honestly. "I'm her lover."

"Chiaki!" Maron shouted his name, suddenly quite embarrassed at him telling her parents that. The two adults stood up quickly, turning to see their daughter standing not five feet from them. "Mom… Dad…" Maron took a small step forward.

"Maron…" All at once the three ran to each other, hugging and crying.

"Kodak moment," Access commented from Chiaki's shoulder.

"Ah." He leaned back, balancing his chair on the back two legs. "She'll be kissing me for months thanks to this."

"Oi, is that all you ever think about?" Access smirked at him.

The re-united family sat back down at the table a few moments later and Chiaki just listened to Maron tell them excitedly that she was in the gymnastics club at school, the competitions she competed in, the friends she made over time, how she got by on her own, and everything else in her life except for the small part about her being Jeanne. Chiaki smiled. No demon had attacked since the day they brought Fin back to her senses. There was no reason to tell them about it.

His thoughts were shattered when his necklace started to vibrate ever so lightly. Access stood up on his shoulder and started to look around frantically. "Maron, is that your cell phone?" Her mother asked her, pointing to her purse. "I think you're getting a call."

Maron looked at her purse and slowly opened it, seeing her clair flashing wildly at her. Fin landed on the table and looked up at Maron, torn between telling her not to worry about it or to make some excuse to get away for a moment. The girl slowly looked over to Chiaki desperately.

"Ah, I just remembered," Chiaki stood up abruptly. "I have to take care of something." He nodded to Maron's parents and then patted his girlfriend's head. "I'll take care of it, don't worry about anything. I'll tell you everything I find out later tonight." He bent over and kissed her cheek before running away with Access flying behind him.

"Access!" He demanded as he ran toward the direction where the uneasy feeling was coming from. "I thought they were all gone!"

"They _are_!" His partner countered. "All the demons at war were sealed! These are just ones that escaped hell!"

"You can escape _hell_?" He asked, amazed, as he took a sharp corner and ducking behind a large trash bin. "I think they are right over there. Can you move in and give me more detail?"

"Yeah, it's a weak one." Access flew over him and around to the group of people huddled together. Chiaki pressed his back against the bin and slowly a familiar sensation ran up his spine. His power increased, his vision sharpened, the very air around him began to have more meaning. He closed his eyes and when they re-opened, he saw white hair in his vision and the light comfortable fighting cloths of Sinbad.

"Sinbad! The demon is in a golden gun that the leader has. He's the one with the black shirt!"

"Are they hostile?"

Access gave a light smile. "They all have guns and knives from what I can tell. Some kind of street gang."

"Something like that can't stop me." Sinbad leapt onto the employee only stairway that was across from him on the side of the building. From there he took a good assessment on what he was up against. Six people were all huddled together wearing red shirts with black pants, except for one, who wore the inverse. He held up two fingers and a notice formed between them, to which he threw down.

The leader of the group caught the piece of paper and read it aloud. "I will steal the beauty of the golden gun. Kaitou Sinbad." He looked around with the rest of his members, who didn't think to even check above them.

"Up here!" Sinbad shouted as he leapt from the stairs. His boomerang knocked the person who reacted the fastest away, giving him time to land and lash out his foot to take care of another. A knife was thrust past his face, to which he grabbed the man's arm and rammed his elbow into his chest before neatly spin kicking him.

"Who the hell are you?" the leader demanded, pulling out the gun and aiming at him. Two more joined in, taking aim.

"Kaitou Sinbad has arrived," was all he told them, eyes glaring at the guns. Access flew from gun to gun and finally gave him thumbs up. "Guns are worthless against me. Step back and give me the golden one, then I will be off."

"Kill him!"

The two lackeys all pulled the triggers to their guns, only to have them fall apart thanks to Access's tweaking of them. "Impossible!" one of them gasped out, stepping back. "He didn't even touch them!"

The leader pulled the trigger to his gun, aiming for Sinbad's chest. The thief was already out of the way, however, and was running toward him with a pin in his hand. A second shot rang out, followed by four more. "You're out of bullets." Sinbad told him, right in his face.

He had to leap to the side, however, as the first person he knocked down managed to shoot in his direction. "Several more are coming!" Access shouted out, playing spotter for him. "Sinbad this doesn't look good! If all of them have guns, you'll be shot for sure!"

"I don't back down, Access!" Sinbad focused his magic together and put on a burst of speed. Slowly he started to take the people down who rushed him with a combination of weapons from his cloak and hand to hand.

A rather hard object collided with the back of his head, making his vision get blurry for a moment. The gang members took advantage of this and pressed their attack. Ever so slowly Sinbad started to get hit from their attacks and cut from the daggers they used.

"I'm rusty," He told access, panting. Several bodies lay strewn in the alleyway, but no matter how many he dropped, more seemed to have appeared to replace them. "If I don't checkmate soon, I may lose the chance."

"You should get Jeanne," Access told him, looking around. "Together you can make short work out of them."

"She's with her parents right now," he replied, smirking. "Come on, Access Time, let's get serious." He ran into the group that opposed him and began to fight in earnest, dropping them left and right. Several small cuts started to flake his trench coat but he pressed on. Finally he managed to jump from them and land in front of the leader, who pointed the gun at him again, firing rapidly.

Sinbad dropped down and swept kicked him, making him fall. His hands clasp together and from the air, pulled a long black pin. "Check-"

A shot of ropes shot around his ankles, wrapping around him rapidly before two small weights hit his legs, making him almost lose his balance. The trick was used by Miyako a lot, and by now he was used to it. He reached into his coat to pull a dagger from it, but the ropes jerked on him much harder than humanly possible.

The reason was soon made clear to him as he saw the other side of the rope tied to the trailer hitch on a truck that was smoking tires. His body shot across the ground as the truck sped off, dragging him across the concrete. The truck took a sharp turn, making his body roll across the group so fast he almost blacked out from it.

His body slammed into a light pole, making it feel like his right arm broke on contact. Second later he hit something else, but screamed out in pain before he could even tell what it was. He didn't know how long he was dragged behind the vehicle, but when he was finally cut free, he slid into a building hard and lay there; bleeding from the cuts and burns the concrete gave him clear through his cloths.

"Sinbad! Sinbad speak to me!" Access landed next to him and tried to shake him. "Sinbad, say something! Anything!"

"Ma…ron…" His voice was harsh and painful. Slowly he rolled over onto his back and coughed out in pain, blood splashing his lips. "He...lp…….me…" he rolled over again and Access realized that it was his nerves making him do so. "Maron……..help…..." his eyes were starting to get hazy, and Access knew he was using all the energy he had left to page Maron's clair. "Help…" he said one last time before passing out.

* * *

"Maron, is that your phone again?" Takumi asked his daughter then the familiar beeping of her clair started up again.

Maron waved it off nervously, reaching into her purse and shoving the clair deeper down into it so it couldn't' be heard. "No, no, don't worry about it. That's just my alarm for gymnastics practice is all." She laughed nervously before happily changing the subject. "Oh yeah, Mom, did you do any sports while you were in school?"

Fin looked nervously at the purse, and tried to ignore the feeling of dread she had in her heart. Surely Chiaki could take care of anything that happened. She looked up at Maron, who was actively talking to her parents and smiling as if she owned the world itself.

* * *

"Sinbad? Sinbad!" Access tried everything he could think of to make him wake back up, but was afraid to touch most of his body since he was covered in scrapes and burns.

"Is this the guy?" a voice came up, making Access turn around. A group of people were all huddled by him, looking. At first he thought they were there to help, but when he noticed that each of them were holding guns, he began to panic.

"What an idiot, taking on all the Cartion at the same time."

"He took down almost half of them single handedly," another protested. "If they hadn't grabbed him with the rope, they would have lost for sure!"

"Out of the way, yo, let me take a look at him." A new person with a white tank top and torn jeans knelt down next to the fallen thief. "Oh man. Oh man, yo. This here's Sinbad, yo!"

"Sinbad?"

"You know this guy, Tyrone?"

"He's a legend, fools!" Tyrone yelled at them. "Get the van; we're taking him before the police get here."

"Is that smart? We should kill him right here."

"Hey! He fought against the Cartion, did he not? Any enemy of them is a friend of ours, yo! No open the doors and let's get the hell out of here!"

Access was thrown out of the way by the man Tyrone as he lifted the body of Sinbad up and ran to the van with him. Taking to the air, Access flew after them, but the door slammed shut, almost catching his wing. As the van pulled away, he heard police sirens starting to get close. "Hang on Sinbad," Access spoke to himself, watching the van speed away. "I'll get help and find you."

* * *

A/N:Dedicated to Lena; thanks for the review

Chapter 3 coming soon


	3. Getting Around

The doors to the van shut quickly, nearly clipping my wing as I tried to fly inside the vehicle after Sinbad. I put my hands onto the tinted windows and watched in horror as they all looked at the almost lifeless boy. One of them, Tyrone if I remember right, was making a big scene out of it. Obviously he knew of Sinbad somehow. The engine started and soon I was left hovering in the air as the van took off, carrying my partner with it.

**Winter Break III**

**By: Satashi**

Access flew quickly in the direction of Fin's power source. The area became familiar all at once as he came over the café area that they had been at earlier. He then spotted Maron waving goodbye to her parents. The black winged angel didn't hesitate to land roughly on the table, catching both Fin and Maron's attention. "Big trouble!" He panted out, worn from his pressured flight. "Sinbad's been caught!"

"Caught?" Fin echoed him in disbelief. "Access, calm down, what happened?"

Access took a deep breath to collect himself and spoke up to Maron. "Jeanne, Sinbad was fighting to seal a demon just now," He took another breath. "The demon itself isn't a problem, but the people with it are hardcore. We were fighting them and Sinbad made a mistake that caused his feet to be roped up and a truck dragged him several blocks. Some people found him and took him away; I think they're some kind of rival gang or something!"

Maron didn't answer. She had her hand over her mouth and what appeared to be a shocked face. "That's not all, Fin." Access went on, flying up in front of Maron since her angel was on her shoulder. "I think something's wrong with Jeanne's Petite Clair. We tried calling for help but it couldn't go through or something."

Maron's eyes went wider. "That's…" her voice was a whisper, but Access caught it anyway. He looked at her, concerned. "The clair… It went off…"

"Did something happen here too?" Access looked worriedly over at Fin. "Why couldn't she answer? Did something attack?" he looked around, almost as if he expected something to leap out at him.

"I didn't answer…" Maron's voice was a light whisper. "Because I was talking to my parents…"

Access froze in mid air. Slowly he turned to look up at her. "What… did you say?"

"I didn't want to answer…" Maron repeated, suddenly very scared. "I pushed it in my purse so I couldn't hear it and…" Her head ripped to the side and when she could see Access again, Fin was holding him from behind as he shook in her arms. Maron felt her left cheek start to swell up and realized that Access had struck her with some kind of energy. "Access…I…"

"He was crying…" His voice shook from anger, eyes glaring at the ground. "He was calling out you name…" Slowly he looked up at her, breath rigged and shoulders shaking from the anger cursing through him. "He was asking for help… He was asking for _help_!" He pulled from Fin and flew up in front of Maron. "He was _bleeding to death_, asking for _help_," His voice kept getting louder as he spoke. "And you just _didn't answer_ because you _was TALKING_?" He pulled his hand up again, making Maron instinctively close her eyes. When the hit didn't come, she slowly opened them again. Access looked straight at her and spoke softly with venom in his words. "If he dies, it's your fault."

Maron fell into a chair, too stunned from his words to be able to stand any longer. "Fin," He turned to speak to her. "I'm going to hone in on his powers and try to find him. I'll contact you when I find out something." She gave him a small nod and when he took off into the air, slowly sank down to Maron, who laid her head down on the table and started to cry.

* * *

"You should know better than to bring someone back to base," a man spoke, looking at Sinbad, who was being patched up by Tyrone. "He looks half-dead, what good will he do us?"

"Man you don't know what you're talking about, yo!" Tyrone stood up and turned to his leader. "This here's Sinbad. _Sinbad_!"

"Like the comedian?" One member of the gang perked up, getting laughs from everyone in the room.

"Oh yeah. Laugh. Laugh now, but just you wait. You'll see." Tyrone pointed to them.

"You're sure about him, then?"

Tyrone turned to his leader. "Michael, I wouldn't be saying this stuff unless I was sure, now would I?"

"Mouse!" The man known as Michael looked around. "Where's Mouse?"

"Right here man," A new voice came up, belonging to a short man with glasses. He Aprently got his name from his looks, as he appeared quite harmless. This clashed violently with the semi automatic weapon on his side. "What's up?"

"I need a background check on someone named 'Sinbad'. I want to know who he is, where he came from, what kind of coffee he drinks, everything!"

"He's from Japan, yo!" Tyrone added in. "Look under the police records there, you'll find him!"

"Coming right up," The man left the room and soon typing could be heard from the area he went off to.

Hours passed quickly and Sinbad was soon finished with the crude first aid, then transferred to a chair, where he was handcuffed down. Ever so slowly he became aware of his surroundings and slowly lifted up his head. People in the room suddenly quit laughing with each other and gave him their attention. "What…"He shifted his hands, feeling cuffs on them. Before he could really understand what was going on, someone sat in front of him.

"Yo, Sinbad, yo! How you feelin' my brother?" Sinbad blinked a few times, wishing he could rub his eyes. Tyrone introduced himself to him before continuing. "So what you doing in America dog? Where you been the past threw months? Laying low? Finally spending the money you got? Come on man, you with family here! Spill it dog!"

"Do all Americans talk like you?" He asked after finally regaining his senses. Several people laughed, but Tyrone didn't seem to be fazed by it.

All at once, Mouse ran into the room. "Michael! Man you're not going to believe this!" he held up a folder that seemed quite thick. "Come check this out!" the people in the room gathered around the man as he threw the papers on the table.

"What did you find, Mouse?" Michael asked, looking over the papers.

"I can't tell you about Sinbad without first mentioning Jeanne," He began, ignoring the confident nodding of Tyrone. "This chick, here." He pointed at a picture of Jeanne as she waved to the police just before going off to commit her crime for the night. "She has single handedly stolen everything she could get her hands on. You name it; she's gotten it at least once. Art, diamonds, statues, everything! And get this man, she sends the police notices ahead of time as to what she's going to steal and the exact time she'll steal it!" He pointed to the copies of Jeanne's notices.

"What's this have to do with him?"

"Easy man, easy." Mouse went on. "Give me some time will you? Anyway, this girl has an entire _task force_ dedicated solely to catching her."

"Like S.W.A.T?"

"No, worse than that. These guy's only paychecks come from trying to track this chick down. They have means of calling in every policeman from ten miles. Trust me, in Japan that's a lot of police. So to review, she sends in notices to alert the police, never fails to show up on the time she mentioned, and makes a fool of the police and the special task force, all ranking officers mind you. Every item that she says will be stolen has been stolen. Next to the estimated value of assessts that she's stolen is the word: 'invaluable'."

Several whistles rang out at the news. "But that doesn't tell us anything about Sinbad." Michael spoke again, telling his friend to get with it.

"That guy over there…" Mouse threw down another folder. "Plays Jeanne for a fool." He pulled out Sinbad's notices and translated them for the group. "I will steal the painting of beauty from Jeanne. I will steal Jeanne's target tonight at nine. I will collect Jeanne's statue tonight at seven sharp."

"So you mean, _that_ guy is better than the chick?"

"Jeanne is the number one top rated crook ever recorded," Mouse confirmed. "And Sinbad plays games with her, stealing her targets."

There was a silence as the information set in.

Finally Michael went over to Sinbad and sat backwards in the chair in front of him. "So what's a thief of your caliber doing over here in American messing around with the Cartion gang?"

"Seemed like fun at the time," He answered easily, eyes drifting to the side, where he saw Access fly in through a busted out window. "How did you get that information?" He felt the handcuffs behind him get slack and then saw his partner go from person to person, tweaking their guns.

"Mouse can hack into anything." Michael answered. "You were after what? Don't play games with us. We're thieves too."

"I want his gun," Sinbad answered them honestly. "I'm going to checkmate it."

"That's what Jeanne calls her thefts," Mouse informed. "Sinbad must have picked it up from her."

"You aren't going to get that gun," Michael leaned back. "We've tried. Ever since that…traitor… got that gun, it's been nothing but deaths and war for territory."

"You're saying it wasn't always like that?" Sinbad looked over at Access, who pointed at a window and nodded. "You're saying ever since he got the gun things started happening?"

"Yeah," Tyrone pulled up a chair and joined in. "We used to just have our own hood. A place to call home, yo. We protected it, man. Made it safe for our brothers to walk to school, you know what I'm saying? The police don't care about the ghetto. That's where we come in dog. We enforce the laws around here."

"So you don't always cause police to block off roads to have a war?"

"We only want our families to walk down the street without being worried they'll be shot at man. We ain't down with that needless killing." Tyrone leaned forward. "Help us out Sinbad. I know that gun's controlling the leader of the Cartion. If we can steal that gun things will go back to the way they were!"

"I will checkmate the gun."

"I still don't see how he will be able to do it." Michel looked at him.

"Thanks for the hospitality. I'll go now." He looked over at Access, who gave a thumbs up. The gang laughed at him until he stood up, free from the binds. Michael and Tyrone took to their feet, only to fall down, realizing that the handcuffs on Sinbad were now connecting their ankles. "Your guns are worthless," Sinbad walked over to the window where his partner was and didn't turn around. "I already disabled them."

One person pulled the trigger to his gun, only to have it literally fall apart on him. "No way…"

He looked over his shoulder. "Stay out of my way. I'll have the gun soon, and then I'll go back to Japan." A quick flash of his wrist sent several smoke bombs toward them, and by the time they could see again, Sinbad was gone.

* * *

"Are you okay? Access flew next to him as he limped down the alleyway and back into the populated area of the city. "Sinbad, don't overdo it."

Chiaki leaned against the side of a building and took out his cell phone. His call was answered on the third ring. "Jack, it's me, Chiaki. I need a ride… Yeah," He looked up at the road sign and then to the building he was standing against. "I'm on first and third, next to the home-style deli… Thanks." He flipped his phone shut and stumbled into the restaurant. "It'll take him about an hour to get here," he informed Access as he sat in a booth. "Man, I'm starving."

"It's already late. You should eat something, I'll go tell Fin you are okay." With that, the Angel flew outside the open door and perched onto the glowing lamp post. A small device came out of his robes and he spoke down into it. "Fin. Fin, are you there?"

A moment later, Fin's face came onto the glass surface of his communications device. "Access? Is everything all right?"

"Kind of. I found Sinbad. He's worn and beat up, but can walk. His driver is on the way to pick him up. Should be smooth from here on out."

"Chiaki? He found Chiaki?" Maron's voice came onto the line. "Access, is he okay?"

Still mad at her, Access told her the truth. "He has lost a lot of blood, beat up, burns over most his body, his magical energy is low, and he limps when he walks, but that's okay. As long as you had a nice conversation."

"Access, that's not fair!" Fin yelled at him, angry. "She just met her parents for the first time in _years_!"

"I understand that, and I was happy for her, but when someone's _life_ is on the line, nothing else should matter! She can see her parents anytime now, if Sinbad had died…" His voice cut off from being angry and instantly went to being sad. "If Sinbad had died… I don't know what I'd do…"

"Access…"

"Signing out. We'll be back in about three hours, assuming." He turned off his device and looked down through the window at Chiaki, who was eating like his life depended on it. "If I lost my partner, I'd lose it myself… I honestly don't know if I could return to heaven with such a sad heart…"

* * *

"Access? Access!" Fin sighed and lowered her device. "He logged off. He said he'll be back in about three hours." Maron looked at the clock next to the bed. Her parents were supposed to pick her up at any moment now to go to dinner. "Maron just go, the chances of him getting here while you are out are slim. Even if you were here, you couldn't do anything…"

A knock came on her door and Maron looked back to Fin, then to the door again. "Fin, I…"

"Just go, Maron. I'll stay here. If anything happens, just contact us."

The knocking came again, and this time Maron ran to the door, opening it up and beaming at her parents. "Dad, Mom, hi!"

"Is your boyfriend not going to come with us?" Her mother asked as Maron grabbed her purse and closed the door. "Should we go to his room?"

A blush went over her face as she stammered "We, um, share a room…" She looked down and blushed harder when her mother gave her a hug and father look a little shocked. "He lives right next door to me at home," she explained, trying to regain some of her dignity. "He took care of me when I needed it." Smiling now, she looked up at them. "You could say he's the only person who really understands me. I love him."

* * *

Maron opened the door to her hotel slowly, and closed it silently behind her. Quickly she ran into her room as softly as she could. "Chiaki?" she whispered out, a part of her hoping he was asleep and the other part hoping the opposite. "Are you awake?" She tore off her shoes and gently crawled onto the bed.

"Mmmm…." He rolled over and looked at her. "I was trying to stay up for you, but I guess I fell asleep."

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy." He looked at her in the darkness sleepily. "Did you have fun with your parents?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it later…" Her eyes began to water slightly. "Do you need anything? Do you want to take a shower? I'll wash your back, it'll relax you…"

"Already took one. Access helped me…" He was starting to fall asleep again.

"Do you want anything to eat? I brought back something for you?"

"Already ate, thank you though. I'd like it for breakfast…"

"How about I rub your back?" She placed her hand onto his arm, making him wince.

"I am a little sore right now so maybe later?"

"…okay…" Maron slowly slid off the bed and stripped down. A moment later she retrieved one of her large shirts and slid it on before getting in bed. Her body went up against his and she carefully put her arm around him.

Chiaki winced anyway, despite her being careful, and pulled away a little. "Maron, I'm really sore…"

"Oh… okay…" She scooted away from him and turned over, tears starting to fall from her eyes. '_You're too nice, Chiaki_.' She thought to herself, pulling a pillow close enough to hold onto. '_I'd almost feel better if you yelled at me for not coming instead of being so nice and understanding…_' She pushed her face into the pillow deeper when Chiaki moved to lay on his side and grunting a little in pain.

* * *

Chiaki sat up in bed slowly, looking around sleepily. He let out a long yawn and moved his feet out of the covers in order to stand up. With a stretch, he winced lightly as his cuts pulled. "Stupid little…" He stretched again to loosen his muscles and padded over to the takeout box that Maron had promised him last night.

The lid opened without complaint and he smiled at what was inside. She had brought him a steak with some fries on the side. He wasted no time in grabbing it and tearing into it without bothering to cut it. His other hand grabbed some fries and he stuffed them into his mouth as well.

He knew he had mana burn, and could feel it deep in his body. His automatic defenses had sucked his magical power almost completely dry in order to help him heal quickly. Although he was glad for it, in order to replenish his supply he needed more energy- which he normally gained in the form of carbohydrates. He ripped into the steak again, trying to fend off the starving sensation in his stomach. A few large meals and he should be okay.

He licked his fingers and wiped them off on the shirt he worse yesterday that was conveniently on the floor. He tossed it across the room in what he declared to be his 'dirty cloths pile'.

"Feeling better, Assuming?" Fin asked him, flying up to his chest and looking him over. Instead of letting him answer, she started to scan his body. "You are healing a lot faster than I thought you would…" Her voice was impressed at him.

A loud yawn got their attention and both looked over at Access, who stood up on his pillow/bed. With a stretch he flew over to his partner and lazily gave him a one-over. "You're healing a little slow," He mused, stopping to pull off a bandage. "I thought these little ones would be gone overnight."

Fin looked a little cross between shocked and very impressed at hearing this, but Chiaki didn't really notice. His attention was on his partner, who he had learned how to trust fully. "How long till I'm ready?"

"Technically, tomorrow." He answers; pulling off another bandage that he thought was no longer needed. "Your body is healing itself by using your mana, but I guess you already knew that?" He got a nod so Access continued his thoughts. "Since you were patched so soon after it happened the cuts sealed off. You'll just be burned for a few days. Sensitive. Fighting at, I'd say, forty percent of your normal power."

"What, that's all?"

"Sinbad, you're magical power will be non-existent for three days at least. You're lucky to be alive. If it was a normal human they would be dead right now."

"He has a shield too?" Fin asked, amazed.

"Sort of," Access crossed his arms. "Jeanne has one that blocks attacks. Sinbad's is more of a… super fast healing time. He knows when to leave a battle so it's really the best thing I could do for him."

"I see…"

The talking awoke Maron who, upon not feeling Chiaki next to her, called out his name. He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow in a questioning manor. "Are you okay?" She immediately asked him, ignoring the two angels flying around his body. "Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?"

"I am kind of hungry." He replied, already feeling the hunger that came from being low on magical energy.

"I brought you something from last night," She crawled to the end of the bed, but got tangled in the sheets as she did so and fell off the end. Groaning, she tried to push herself up, but seemed to be having a hard time of it.

Chiaki looked down at her. Maron's bottom half was still on the bed, while her upper body was currently attempting to push herself up without becoming completely lost inside her covers. His kind and loving mind instantly made him reach down for her… and grab her butt.

"Chiaki!"

"What?" He asked innocently as she scrambled to straighten herself up. When she did so, she sat down on the bed and blushed. "You're cute when you're shy," he told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Mm," She got redder, noticing the angels looking at her. "Chiaki…" She looked up at him, a little sad. "Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Seriously?"

"I'm okay, just sore. Don't worry so much."

"Of course I worry!"

He grinned. "Let's get breakfast."

* * *

Maron blushed lightly as Chiaki ate at the breakfast buffet their hotel offered for free. One hand was shoveling waffles into his face while the other was trying it's best to stuff bacon and eggs in at the same time. Every now and then he would grab his large glass of milk and chug it down before going back to eating. Maron watched him a little while longer before leaning over to Fin. "Am I… that bad when I get mana burn?"

"Worse." She answered, grinning up at her. "Once you were so mad that Chiaki made the checkmate that you demolished everything in site."

"Oh yeah, I was sick the next day wasn't I?" her cheeks colored a little more and she went back to watching him. Somehow, far back in her mind, she found it rather cute. She knew that he would never let anyone back home see him like this. When she thought about it, she would still be shy about letting _him_ see _her_ eat so much, even if he did know she was doing it to recover her energy.

"Something wrong?" he asked around a mouthful before swallowing and leaning back in his chair. "Oh man, this really hits the spot." He patted his stomach and allowed Access to eat some without fear of being stabbed by a fork. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"Do you want to take a nap?" She asked him lightly before eating some more herself.

Chiaki leaned forward a little bit and looked at her. "Maron, what's up with you this morning? You know I've been Sinbad for a long time now and you've never worried about me like this. I 'm not made out of glass you know, a little beat down every now and then is nothing."

Maron's eating slowed down considerably. "It's not that..."

"Then what is it?" He noticed Fin's wings droop a little bit at his question, and Maron looked like she was about to cry on him. "Ah, never mind, it doesn't matter. I want to go to the mall." He pointed over to where the catwalk was. "How about you? Don't you want to go shopping?"

Maron smiled lightly. "Yeah…"

"Then come _on_!" He pulled her out of her chair and started to drag her along with him. "Let's go!"

"You hate shopping, Sinbad." Access whispered into his ear after perching onto his shoulder. "What gives? You should rest."

"I don't like it when she looks like that," He answered, motioning back to Maron as she stumbled while trying to keep up with him.

Soon Maron forgot about everything other than what was in front of her. Running from shop to shop she squealed about -what Chiaki thought to be the dumbest things- how cute everything was.

Pulling him to another store, she excitedly grabbed several pairs of cloths and shoved him into a chair that faced the changing rooms. Time after time again, the curtain drew back to reveal Maron is different American fashions. She went through everything from formal to things she knew she would never ever wear outside but put on anyway for his amusement. Finally after strutting around him in knee high boots, short shorts that she was about to fall out of and a shirt that tied off under her breast, she blew him a kiss and closed the curtains again to change back into her normal cloths.

Access's mouth was hanging open in shock with a blush across his cheeks while tears rolled down Chiaki's face. Slowly he looked up toward heaven and started thanking the lord for letting him live to see that day. Fin, meanwhile, was crying for a completely different reason. Her pure and innocent partner was lost to her, despite what Maron was _trying_ to tell her.

Several bags later they emerged from the store and back out into the mall. Chiaki had got her all of the cloths she tried on that she was serious about and after much begging and pleading on his part, the last outfit she had worn. It came with a price, though. Not only did he have to buy her everything else, but also was told that she would refuse to wear it unless he went two entire weeks without grabbing/ looking at her in an indecent way in public.

It was a small price to pay, he thought.

Chiaki found a gaming store, which he went around in enthusiastically. To his disappointment, everything on the shelves that was marked 'new!' were things that had been released over in Japan for several months at least now.

Fin dragged them both to a taffy store, where she made them watch an entire batch being made and were rewarded with free samples for their troubles. This, however, made Access realize that he, like Fin, had an abnormal obsession with sweets. Chiaki, not being the one to keep candy at his place unless it was for Maron or Miyako, was forced to buy small ounce size servings of almost everything in the store.

Maron's parents got away from their work long enough to meet them for lunch, where Chiaki kept himself in check although Maron could tell he was wanting to start shoving food into his mouth again. After a reluctant departure on Maron's part, she went back to shopping with him. Of course when the arcade came into view both Access and Chiaki immediately left her side to run into it.

Now it was Maron's turn to wait on him. He had found an American version of his favorite game 'Dance Dance Revolution' and proceeded to play it for about an hour. Fin sat on Maron's shoulder and leaned against her neck while Maron herself chose rather to sit on the floor and watch him.

She was amazed at how badly everyone danced who got on the machine with him. This, of course, lead to a small crowd of squealing girls to form around him. She had to admit, though, he _did_ look just a little cool when he grabbed the back railing on the dance pad and ran across the screen.

She didn't think the girls should start screaming out their love for him, however.

When he was finally starting to look tired, Maron made him stop before he worked up a sweat. The last thing she needed was for him to stink while holding onto his arm. She also didn't want him to get too tired or his wounds wouldn't heal fast enough- even if he barely had any on his legs in the first place.

Maron made a big show of kissing him, shooting the girls a death glare in the process. "Jealous much?" He whispered at her, getting a snort. To please her, Chiaki's hands went around her and spun her around once before pecking her nose.

Fin, thrown off by the sudden inertia, found herself in the arms of Access, who had caught her before she hit one of the arcade machines. She quickly pulled away and blushed. "Um, thank you," she stammered out, making him get a goofy grin on his face. Fin flew back over to Maron while Access stayed where he was.

"Nice catch," Chiaki whispered to him with a smirk. Access gave him a peace sign.

Upon walking out of the arcade, Maron bumped into someone, making her bags drop. "Oh, sorry!" she immediately called out in Japanese, reaching down to start picking up what she dropped.

The person who she bumped into made a rather rude comment to her, which ended up in Chiaki dropping his bags and shoving him up against the wall. "I think that was a little uncalled for there, don't you agree?"

"You know who you're messing with, punk?" Chiaki's eyes flashed over him. He wore red and black. "Yeah that's right. I'm with the Cartion."

Chiaki looked over to the side, where a mall security guard caught his eye and then turned away, leaving them alone despite the small group gathering around them. "He ain't gonna help you." The guy smirked and reared back to hit him.

"I don't need any help." Chiaki caught his fist and rammed his own into his gut, making the gang member double over. "Get out of here." He went to kick him, but another voice made him stop.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Chiaki turned when Maron shrieked. A new person had his arm around her neck in a choker hold. "Make a move and she'll regret it."

Chiaki swallowed. He knew she could easily handle the situation, but could also tell that she was still too confused as to what was going on to do so. His mind raced as the first person started to stand up straight. His plan was about to get relayed to Access for assistance, but a new voice rang up.

"I think you're out of your area, dog." A gun was pulled and placed against the man's head that was holding Maron. "Don't you dare think I'm not below blowing your head off right here and now."

"Hey man, we're cool." He let go of Maron, who stumbled over to her boyfriend. "No harm, just a little chit-chat."

"Didn't look that way, yo." Chiaki recognized the speech as Tyrone. "Scoop up your friend and get out of here. Don't be causing no trouble around our hood." He kicked the man away from him and the two people walked away. Tyrone put his gun in the back of his pants. "Scum everywhere," his eyes found the security guard. "What's your problem, yo! You get paid to do your job, so _do_ it!"

Chiaki noticed that although Tyrone had just pulled a gun, no one ran away from him. In fact most people were giving him an appreciative look. "Thank you," he finally spoke to him, making Tyrone turn.

"Keep yo girl safe man." He replied before turning to walk away. After a few paces he turned. "You Japanese?"

Chiaki didn't flinch, knowing what must be going on in his mind. "Yeah."

"You know anyone named Sinbad?"

"No, sorry."

Tyrone looked at him, judging. "If you do, remind him that he owes me one."

"I don't understand."

"See-ya." With that, he turned and walked away.

* * *

"Guess I should explain, huh?" Chiaki asked as the four of them walked into their hotel room. Fin sat down on the night stand while Access chose to sit on Maron's head. The bags were sat down in the floor and Chiaki hopped on the bed, stretching out. "Where to start…"

"How about at the beginning?" Maron suggested, sitting by him and finger combing his hair.

He took a deep breath and retold his experiences from the day before. When he was done, he looked up at Maron, who seemed to be on the verge of crying again. "What's wrong, Maron?"

"I wasn't there…" she told him, looking away. "I was talking to my parents and didn't answer your call…"

"Hey, it's okay. I understand. I mean, your parents."

"It's not _okay_! I should have answered you! You could have _died_!"

"Something like that wouldn't have killed me. I made it out just fine, see?" He spread his arms out as if presenting himself to her. "Is that why you've been so attentive today?" She nodded lightly, sniffing. "Hey now, I'd much rather be scolded than to have you put sympathy on me."

"I'm sorry…"

To her surprise he smiled up at her. "I'm glad, Maron."

"About what?" She looked down at him, a tear dripping onto his face.

"You're sad because you know that I would have came running no matter what if you paged me, right?" She nodded lightly, sniffing again. "I'm glad… You learned how to trust in other people… you trust in me." She nodded at him again, a light smile playing on her lips now. "Kiss me?" She let out a cross between a laugh and a sob, nodding a final time before leaning over onto him, making Access fall off her head and onto Chiaki in the process. The mood shattered and Chiaki sat up, throwing his angel off of him.

Maron bit back a laugh, and giggled lightly. "Poor Chiaki, you never catch a break."

* * *

A/N: yay for chapter 3! Chapter 4 will be out in 2 days so look forward to it. Please leave a review? 


	4. Coming Back

Sighing, I looked over at Jeanne, who gave me an equally disappointed look. It was our second outing in America and we still were no closer to finding out anything on our target that we didn't already know. Unlike the 'lords gang, the Cartion appeared to have no set place where they stayed. This only gave us more trouble in hunting them down. Jumping over to Jeanne, I whispered out my thoughts to her as we looked over the street at night. "I'll have to go to the 'lords hideout and get information, then send a notice to lure them out. We'll checkmate and get out of there before anything happens." She nodded without looking at me, then leapt off the rooftop and landed on the next. The direction she was going in told me that she was headed back to the hotel.

**Winter Break IV**

**By: Satashi**

Maron moaned sleepily as she awoke the next morning. Her hand went to her chest, where she grabbed Chiaki's which was under the thin fabric of her shirt. "Awake, are we?" she cooed at him.

"No, we're dreaming." His hand tried to go back to feeling her up, but she squeezed it in a successful attempt to make him stop.

"Feels awfully real to be a dream," she told him playfully, turning over in bed to face him. His hand, now on her back, started to massage it for her. "It's too early."

"It's _never_ too early," he protested, leaning close and kissing her.

She returned the kiss easily enough and smiled. "I tell you what…" She sat back in the bed and smiled it him, slowly taking off her shirt and draping it over his eyes before he could see her. "Grab me and you can do whatever you want…. Anything…you want." She put an emphasis on the right words and he perked up instantly, lunging in the direction Maron's voice came from.

Unfortunately for him, she was already standing a few feet away from the bed, which he just leapt off of. "Oh, what a shame, you missed." She knelt down and patted his confused, still covered head. "That's revenge for the other day. I'm going to shower now." After leaving him like that she went into the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the water.

"That's… that's not fair…"

* * *

Maron squealed happily, making Chiaki almost spill the scolding hot coffee onto himself. After making sure that he was safe he looked over at her, only to have a newspaper shoved in his face. "Look, we made first page!"

He blinked to adjust his vision on the up close and personal newspaper. True enough, right there on the front page was a large black and white picture of Sinbad and Jeanne. The former was crouching on a street light, which he apparently just landed on, while Jeanne was in the air in mid jump.

Maron pulled the newspaper back and read excitedly "Jeanne and Sinbad, Japan's top ranked on the most wanted list, were seen here in New York last night. The target they are after has not been identified, but citizens are warmed to stay away from them as they are armed and dangerous." She stopped reading and looked over at him. "I'm armed?"

"Well, you _do_ have a sword."

"Yeah, but I don't use it… oh well." She didn't bother asking him, as she knew that Sinbad's trench coat held innumerable things that he never hesitated to use should the situation call for it.

The phone rang next, making the male leave the small table in their room and walk over to it. "Hello?"

A familiar Japanese language screamed out into his ear, making him wince. "What are you two _doing_ over there?"

Chiaki rubbed his ear and held the phone out to Maron. "It's for you."

She took it from him and slowly inhaled to steady herself. Once prepared, she spoke cutely into the phone. "Miyako! You won't believe all the neat things over here in America! Yesterday we-"

"My dad got a call this morning," Miyako cut her off. "It seems that the head of police in America wanted advice on how to deal with two top-rated criminals!"

"Gee, who could that be?" She played innocent, taking the muffin that Chiaki was reaching for and biting into it.

"I wonder," Miyako scoffed before suddenly getting calmer. "Maron, is everything okay over there?"

"It's only a small thing, don't worry." She answered with her mouth full and reaching for some milk to drink. Chiaki got it before her and she had to flail her arm out at him before he handed it over so she could wash down her breakfast. "It'll be solved really soon so don't let it bother you."

"Of course I worry about you," Her friend protested. "Since I know what it means when you,"

"How's your vacation?" Chiaki interrupted her, leaning over to talk into the phone. Maron gave him a thankful look and went with it.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Miyako sighed, but soon went into what everyone was doing at the ski resort.

* * *

"Did you see the newspaper this morning?" Maron's father asked Chiaki as they waited in line at the amusement park to get their respective girls something to eat.

"Um, no," Chiaki lied to him. "I'm here on vacation; I don't want to be troubled with the news of the world, especially if it's in a place where it's not my first language."

Takumi laughed at the answer and nodded. "I understand that. But you'll be amused by this." Chiaki acted interested, already knowing what was going to be said. "Jeanne and Sinbad were seen here!"

"Oh really?" He asked shocked. "They are famous where we're from!"

"I thought that'd interest you." They took a few steps up in line and he continued. "That Jeanne is one amazing girl isn't she? I mean sending notes to taunt the police when she steals something."

"I think Sinbad is better," Chiaki said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing!" he laughed nervously and waved it off.

"Thing is, don't you think that Maron looks kind of like Jeanne? When I first saw it I could have sworn it was her."

Chiaki scratched his cheek. "Jeanne has blond hair and lavender eyes, Maron's are brown…"

"Of course, of course." He laughed. "If my daughter was a thief, I don't know what I'd do!" He clapped Chiaki on the shoulder, who took the hint and joined in laughing. "What about you, Nagoya?"

"Call me Chiaki, and what do you mean? I'm not a thief!"

"No, no, I mean what do you do? You're still in high school aren't you? Any side project?"

Realizing that he must be being evaluated, Chiaki thought before he answered. "Well, I am in high school. I live on my own, but my father owns a hospital- I work with him. Actually when I get back, I'm spending the remainder of my break working full shift. Doctor in training, that's me."

Takumi looked impressed at him.

Chiaki gave him a light, nervous smile. He didn't lie exactly; he _was_ planning on being a doctor later in life… Just he wasn't really planning on getting serious with it for at least another few years. He looked over at Maron's father and debated asking him if he was going to stay in Japan after he got his work done over here in America. He both liked and disliked the idea. Of course he wanted Maron's parents to be with her, but at the same time, he wouldn't be able to hop balconies and catch her in her underwear all the time.

Such things needed to be taken in consideration.

A sudden gunshot made both of them turn around and look at where it came from. Several people were screaming and running away from what seemed to be the area around the hall of mirrors. "It's a gang fight!" a random person yelled out as they ran by. Takumi looked over at Chiaki, who nodded.

The two of them ran over to the girls, who were hiding by the side of a building. "We need to get out of here!" Takumi told them, pointing to a direction where many people weren't running. "That will be the safest place, let's go!" He grabbed his fiancé's hand and then Maron's.

They began to run, but Access flew in front of Maron and waved to her, informing her that Chiaki was going to take care of it. "No!" She let go of her father's hand and grabbed Chiaki's putting attention on him so he couldn't run off. When her parents looked forward again, Maron glared up at him, talking just loud enough to be heard over the gunshots and yelling. "You're not going again, I won't let you!"

"I _have_ to," He told her, serious. Already his rosary was in his free hand.

"If you leave me now my parents will hate you!" Her eyes pleaded at him. "They'll never forgive you for leaving me in danger!"

"I'm sorry. Go with them." Chiaki gave her a sad smile before letting go and running back where they had came from.

"Chiaki!" she reached out for him, but her father grabbed her hand and pulled her along with them. "No, let go! Chiaki!"

"What is he _thinking_?" Takumi asked, shocked, at his retreating figure.

"Fin, watch over him!" Maron pleaded to her angel, sending her off after him.

Chiaki slid in the dirt and pressed himself against the side of a building. "Access, give me the details." He gripped his rosary tighter, feeling the change begin. The mana that he had worked so hard at rebuilding drained from him to fuel his transformation. When it was complete he could feel the warning that Access had given him the day before. "I'm only at forty percent…" He looked over at Fin as she came into sight. "Fin! Look after Maron!"

"She's fine; I'm going to help you." She closed her eyes and sent him a little of her power, making him feel light headed for a moment.

"Sinbad!" Access came back to him. "It's the two gangs again, and the golden gun is here!"

"Details." Sinbad rubbed his eyes to collect himself after the odd feeling of a power up. "I need a plan."

"The Cartion gang is closest to us, using some of the tables for shelter. The 'lords are across from them. It looks like a gun fight only. You'll be shot at from both sides, no matter if the 'lords are on your side or not!"

"Suggestion?"

"Air attacks."

"Rodger." Sinbad leapt straight up and did a slow back flip, landing on the top of the two story building he was previously next to. "Fin, cover me from the back. I want to know if anyone comes close. Access, I need you to battle with me."

Both angels nodded together and Sinbad reached into his coat. The familiar boomerang came to his call and he wasted no time in throwing it harshly down into the fight. Three people were taken down, confusing everyone enough for him to throw a smoke bomb in the middle of the conflict. When it cleared, both leaders found a note in front of them.

_I will repay my debt to Tyrone of the 'Lords gang._

_Kaitou Sinbad._

"He's here!" Tyrone shouted out, grinning. "Told you guys he'd come back, yo!" a bullet landed not a few inches from his head, making him wisely duck behind cover.

Sinbad used the distraction to leap onto another building and attack again from the opposite direction. His boomerang once again took down a few members by crippling their shooting hands.

"The right side of you, Chiaki!" Fin shouted out, giving him enough time to drop down from the rooftop and take out the people trying to climb the stairs to the roof. However, he was robbed of his advantage and soon found himself taking cover behind a dumpster.

The Cartion gang was distracted by Sinbad long enough for the 'lords to press the advantage. Soon they had them semi-surrounded and quickly falling. When the attention was focused back onto the rival gang and not him, Sinbad ran from his shelter and leapt, throwing several darts.

The small projectiles hit their mark and the victims almost instantly fell asleep. He landed close to them and grinned. "When fighting you a few at a time, you are quite easy." He took pleasure in taunting them.

"Sinbad, get back!" Access screamed out frantically.

The thief, shocked at what his angel told him, immediately leapt to the side. His eyes saw why he was warned just a little too late. The leader with the golden gun was aiming at him. The trigger was pulled and a dark energy blast ripped from the barrel.

Sinbad felt his body be clipped on the side, and directed all the energy he could muster to form a barrier there to help protect himself. Thanks to Fin, the barrier came to his call and he was spared from being injured.

Several more gunshots rang out as he landed from his jump and he saw the Cartion starting to run. His hand went into his coat and pulled a pin. "Check-" The pin phased from his fingertips and he felt his transformation slowly start to become undone. "What…?"

"His energy is too low to maintain the transformation!" Access screamed, flying over to him. "Sinbad, run!"

"I have to checkmate!" He clapped his hands together and formed several pins in between them. "One has to hit! CHECKMATE!" He threw the volley of black pins, but the effort left him drained, and robbed of his powers.

Chiaki fell to one knee and panted, watching as his pins fell short and vanished when their purpose wasn't served. He stayed where he was, too worn to make an effort to flee. It wouldn't have done him any good; however, as the gang that he was on semi-friendly terms with was already surrounding him.

"I thought it was you, dog." Tyrone told him, offering a hand to help him up. "I knew you'd help us."

Chiaki took the offer and stood. "I was only repaying you. I have no intention of helping people who harm innocents in needless wars." His eyes swept over him. "Did you get shot?"

"First rule of business, yo. Bullet proof vest."

Michael, their leader, stepped forward. "If you co-operate with us once we can solve this problem. After that, things will be quiet again."

Chiaki bit his lip in thought, looking at Access and Fin while he did so. If he went with them, he could easily find out more about his target and plan a scheduled checkmate. If he denied them, he would probably have to fight his way out of here. "Fine, I'll go." He looked over at Fin and sent her a silent message to go tell Maron about what happened.

"Sinbad…" Access's words made him turn, where he saw Takumi standing just far enough away to be hidden, but could still see them. "Maron's father came back; I think he wanted to make sure you were all right…"

"Who's there?" Michael turned and pulled his gun, pointing at the man. "Come out!"

Hands raised, Takumi revealed himself and took a few steps.

"No, don't!" Chiaki grabbed Michael's gun. "Don't shoot him."

Michael gave him a mean look, but still lowered his weapon. "You look different."

"This isn't the time for that…" Chiaki looked over at Takumi, but didn't know what to saw at the moment.

"Let's go then. Sinbad, you with us or what?"

Takumi's eyes went wide a moment before slowly narrowing in anger. His hands clenched so hard they started to shake, all while bearing his gaze into Chiaki. "So… This is what you really are…?" He asked, voice calm despite his feelings.

"…Let's go." Tyrone said, turning. The gang began to walk away and the man Chiaki had an equal-interest truce with looked over his shoulder at him. "Come on, Sinbad."

Chiaki slowly turned and started to walk away with them, not pausing as Takumi shouted out. "So that's it, huh? You're going with them? Answer me!" Chiaki continued to walk away, trying forcefully to block the words that came next. "I never want to near my daughter again! You hear me? Ever! If you do, I'll reveal your identity to everyone in Japan! You know I have the position to do it too!"

Chiaki closed his eyes and continued to walk.

* * *

"Maron!" Fin flew over to the girl and gave her a scared look. "Maron, big trouble!"

"What is it, Fin?" She was sitting on a bench watching her mother buying a drink. Apparently the security had calmed everyone down enough to go about being a normal day at the park. "Where is Chiaki, did anything happen to him? Is he okay?"

Fin threw her arms out to calm her down and pay attention to her instead of asking questions. "Maron! Listen before you jump to conclusions! Chiaki is fine, he's not hurt at all, but that's not-"

"Maron!" Both of them turned to the voice and saw Takumi walking over to them along with Koron. "Maron, we need to talk."

"About what?" She asked nervously, wondering where her boyfriend was. "Why did you run off, I told you Chiaki was only going to make sure they didn't follow us?"

"That's not why." He knelt down in front of her, looking at her seriously. "Maron, I'm sorry to tell you this, but… Your boyfriend is part of a gang."

"What do you mean, don't be silly!" Maron laughed nervously, mind frantically trying to understand what was going on.

"Maron," Her father took her hands and made her look at him. "I saw it. Your boyfriend is Sinbad. That's how he is in America right now. He is in the gang that was fighting."

Maron's world paused. Somehow her father had found out about Chiaki, and if that was true then surely… "Daddy don't be silly. Jeanne and Sinbad are Japanese criminals; they can't be in with American gangs!" She laughed nervously. '_Please don't let him know about me, please don't let him know about me, please don't let him know about me!_'

"Did anyone else come with you to America? Has he been meeting anyone? That's where he was the other night wasn't it? He went out with Jeanne while we went to dinner!"

Maron sighed in relief. '_They don't know I'm Jeanne…_' She closed her eyes and thought. "Daddy, Chiaki can't be Sinbad, he's-"

"I saw him, Maron… I'm sorry…" He wrapped her in a hug and pulled her close. "Don't worry; I made sure he will never get close to you again. If he does I swore to reveal his identity to everyone. He'll never go to Japan again."

Maron went stiff and her father hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry honey."

When Maron didn't move or say anything her mother hugged her as well. "Poor thing, she's in shock… come on, let's get you to your hotel. That Sinbad won't dare come back after what happened."

Maron, still dazed from fear of her parents finding out, couldn't protest as they guided her out of the park and to their car.

* * *

"Yo, Sinbad, how'd you change your cloths so fast, dog?" Chiaki had to fight from rolling his eyes at Tyrone's dialect. "One moment you was all trench coat with white hair and the next you're normal with your blue hair again, yo."

"Magic," He replied easily, looking around. He was in their main hideout, being treated to dinner. The boy didn't hold anything back and after Access told him that it wasn't poisoned. He had started shoving things into his mouth almost faster than he could swallow.

"When we going to attack?" Michael asked, watching the boy shovel food. "They wouldn't expect anything tonight. We could easily go in and-"

"Three days."

"What?" Everyone turned to look at Chiaki. "That's too long; they'll be expecting something by then!"

"I will call them out in three days. They will be overconfident, and I will checkmate before anything happens. In, out, and done. No more needless fighting."

"And just how do you think you will find them like that?"

Chiaki looked over at Michael. "Simple, I will send them the note with a place to meet."

"Oh, so they can set the place up? Great plan, Einstein."

"Not just them, the police too."

"No way!" Tyrone stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "That may work in Japan, but over here the cops don't play by the same rules. If you do that and it goes public, they'll call in S.W.A.T! Not even you will last five seconds against fully automatic weapons!"

Chiaki continued to eat for a moment before replying. "True, it's a lot different where I come from."

"That's how it is, yo."

"Sinbad doesn't strike without a notice." He glared at them, as if daring one to oppose him. "It'll get sent no matter what."

Michael rubbed his temples. "Fine. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Chiaki grinned. "That's more like it…" His eyes turned to Access. "Access, go tell Jeanne the plans."

"Who you talking to, dog?"

Chiaki smirked. "You could say he's my guardian angel."

* * *

"Jeanne! Jeanne!" Access flew in through the window and landed on the bed, where Maron lay face down on her bed asleep. "Wake up Jeanne! I have news!"

"She cried herself to sleep, Access." Fin spoke up, apparently just having woken up herself. "Let her sleep, tell me what's going on."

Access jumped over Maron and landed next to her partner. "Sinbad made plans; he wants me to send a notice when I'm done talking to you, in three days we're going to…" Access animatedly told the story to her in detail and at the end was panting for breath. "So he wants Jeanne to stay out of it."

"There's no way she'll just sit back, especially when something so dangerous is going to happen." Fin bit her thumbnail in thought, a habit she picked up from Access somewhere along the time they had been together. "But how is Maron going to go out? Her parents promised to come by every night after work. There's no way she can sneak out to help without being spotted."

Access looked over at Maron, whose shoulders were still shaking a little from the crying fit she had earlier. "I don't know what to tell her. Since her parents know Sinbad's true identity, they have an advantage over her. If she acts out they could make the connection with her and Jeanne. " He moved his vision over to Fin. "When they were in line, her father said he wouldn't know what to do if his daughter was a thief. They would probably blame themselves, and pull back from her again…"

"So if her parents know she's Jeanne it'll be the same as 'good bye' for them."

"You think Jeanne knows that?"

Fin put her hand on Maron's hair and nodded slowly. "She knows… She wouldn't have cried so hard if she didn't know…"

* * *

Sinbad landed on the small platform outside of the hotel window and rapped onto it lightly, making Maron jump up from her bed and run over to it, letting him in. "Chiaki!" She waited impatiently for him to get fully inside before hugging him tightly. "I've missed you! This is our vacation, why did it have to end up like this?"

Sinbad sighed and held her close to him. "I'm sorry. I tried to come before today but I saw your parents so I had to turn back." He pulled back from her and kissed her forehead. "Tonight's the night. After this, I'll… think of something. But I promise this!" he pulled her hands up to his lips, where he kissed her fingers. "I won't leave you alone another night."

"Chiaki…" She hugged him close again and sniffed. "I don't like this…" Her head rested against his chest a moment before pulling back just enough to give him a startled look. "Chiaki, are you…" Her question was cut off when he pulled her back against him.

Sinbad held her in his arms, looking over at the TV, where it showed footage of the warehouse he was going to battle at in just an hour. It was already dark outside but he could tell that there was a special task force called in along with the normal police. Aprently they were going to take the opportunity to try and take down both gangs at once.

"I should get going…"

"Don't go….don't go! This is stupid, we can do it together! Just let me… let me…" her voice trembled. "I'm scared you'll get hurt again… I'd never forgive myself if,"

Her voice was cut off when the door to her hotel room opened. "Maron, we brought you dinner and-" Koron's voice cut off when she saw Sinbad holding her daughter. "It's…it's…"

"Let her go!" Takumi shouted, stepping into the room. "Sinbad, if you so much as hurt my daughter I swear I'll-"

"Dad, no!" Maron shouted, voice shaking as she looked at Sinbad and to her parents and back again. "He's a good person, I-"

"He's fooling you Maron! Come here Sweetie," her mother opened her arms. "Come over here to us, we'll protect you."

Maron looked at the TV, where some ranking officer proclaimed that as long as the bodies were brought in, they would get the reward. Dead or alive, it didn't matter. She closed her eyes a moment and the image of Chiaki groaning in pain as he tried to sleep flashed across her mind. She turned to look at Sinbad as he put one foot on the windowsill. "I'm sorry…" She spoke softly.

Sinbad nodded once in understanding and turned to head out the window.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry…"

Sinbad stopped and turned to look back at her. "Maron, what?"

"I know that this will mean I won't see you again, but I know that you wouldn't want your daughter to be untrue to her heart…" She smiled lightly at her parents, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I made a bad decision before, and a loved one was hurt because of it. I swore to myself that I would never do it again…"

"Maron, dear, what are you talking about?" Her father took a step forward. "Come over here, Honey."

Slowly Maron shook her head. "I know the choice my heart wants me to take… Mom, Dad, I love you." Tears began to fall from her cheeks as she went on. "But I also care for Chiaki. And Fin. And Access. They are all precious to me; I can't turn my back on my angels… or my Lover."

"Maron, I-"

She cut her mother off. "It's a hard choice, but if I can only have one…" her voice rose up in volume. "If I can only have one, then I chose him!" Her hand grabbed the golden rosary and a flash of light later, Jeanne stood in her spot. "Sent by God, The divine wind thief Jeanne has arrived…"

Takumi took a step back and pulled his fiancé with him, scared. "Maron…you…"

She turned to Sinbad and nodded. "Let's go." She leapt onto the windowsill and looked back over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Mom, Dad."

And with that, she leapt outside.

* * *

Sinbad hadn't said anything to her since they left the hotel, but Jeanne didn't seem to mind. After all, what _could_ he say in a situation like that? Their minds went to the task at hand, each perching on a build across the street from the warehouse where they were going to strike. "Where are your friends?"

"Over there," Sinbad nodded over to one side, where they were all waiting on him on ground level. "They agreed to be the distraction."

"A lot of faith in you, don't you think?" She got closer to him and looked over his shoulder. "Can they be trusted?"

"I'd like to think so," he replied as he turned his gaze to the police. "What do you think? We can sneak in with all the chaos."

"That's not my style."

He rubbed his eyes. "Jeanne, please tell me that we're not going to do this your way…"

"Why not? I've done it way more times that you!"

"Listen here, I was a thief before you was! I've sealed just as many, if not more than you!"

"But _I _have a force trying to catch me; you're just a side project!" The two thieves got into each other's faces and glared.

After a moment, Sinbad sighed. "Jeez, you win."

"Thought so," She gave him a peace sign and stuck out her tongue. "Ready?"

"Steady." He looked over at Access and nodded. The black angel flew to the gang members and knocked over a battle of water, giving them the cue to act. At the same time, Fin flew down and got into position for her act as well.

"Hiiiii!" Jeanne yelled out, instantly getting spotlights on her. "Thank you for coming to see me, everyone!" She pointed at them happily. "Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne! Yorosuku!" She leapt off the building and at the same time, three vans across from them blew up. The distraction worked and everyone turned from Jeanne long enough for Sinbad to jump as well, breaking the spotlights with pins as he did so.

Landing, Sinbad pulled his boomerang from his coat and let it fly. Several people fell as it came in contact with their feet. Jeanne caught it and threw it once again, clearing out even more people in front of them.

Smoke bombs blew around them, followed by Sinbad's poisoned darts. One by one the police began to drop, forced asleep. Commands and orders rang thick into the air; half pointed at them and the rest at the 'lords gang.

Jeanne laughed, throwing her ribbon out and catching guns that were pointed at her. What she couldn't get, Sinbad disabled with long needles. Several flash bombs flared thanks to Fin and were aided by pink smoke bombs courtesy of Jeanne. When the utter chaos ended, Sinbad and Jeanne found themselves in the warehouse with only Tyrone, Michael, and two more of his gang.

"That was the _stupidest_ thing I have ever seen!" Michael hissed at Sinbad angrily. "What the _hell_ were you thinking, going in like that?"

"Her idea," Sinbad pointed back at Jeanne, who once again stuck out her tongue. "Anyway…" he looked around. "The police won't come in here, I don't think…"

"So where are they?" Jeanne put her back to Sinbad's and let her eyes sweep the area. "Fin, you see anyone?"

"Access, give me an area scout."

"Who you talking to, yo?"

"Up there!" Fin shouted, pointing. "They are all up there!"

"Scatter!" Access added in, making Jeanne and Sinbad both leap in different directions. The gang they were with took the hint and just narrowly avoided being hit with the swarm of bullets hurled at them. "Two are going to the right toward you, Sinbad!"

"Another is jumping down the platform! Maron, you can take him!" Fin aided her partner as best she could, not used to actual battle like Access was.

Sinbad made a motion to his allies and they nodded, going to take care of the ones trying to circle them. Jeanne slid across the floor and tripped the man aiming for her and finished him off with a fast elbow into his chest. She took his gun and popped out the clip, throwing it across the room and dropping the now useless weapon.

She leapt straight into the air to avoid a gunshot and gracefully back flipped onto some large crates. She looked at the man who had tried to shoot her and gave him a 'tsk tsk' motion with her finger. A moment later her rebound ball grabbed his gun and robbed him of it.

Sinbad threw his grappling hook onto the catwalk where the leader of the Cartion stood and used it to aid his jump up to him. The man looked at him, shocked, and went to pull the gun out on him. Sinbad connected his fist with the man's stomach and an uppercut followed. "Don't underestimate me when I'm at full power." Sinbad snarled at him and sent a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun away from him. "Jeanne!"

"You, a demon born in darkness, I, Jeanne, seal you here!" she twirled her ribbon and sent it to the gun. "Check-" Her sealing was sharply disrupted when Tyrone grabbed the gun in midair.

"This ends here, yo!" he declared, making everyone focus on him. The Cartion are finished, know what I'm saying?"

"Tyrone! Put the gun down!" Sinbad leapt onto the railing of the catwalk and leapt off.

"I don't think so!" He aimed up at him and pulled the trigger. Sinbad's body lurched backwards from the force of the shot. Another bullet fired, followed by a third. Jeanne's eyes went wide as her boyfriend's lifeless body slammed harshly onto the floor. Time stood still for her a moment before she could force her legs to move. "I don't think so, Jeanne!" Tyrone turned and aimed the gun at her next.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, throwing out her arm and fighting back tears. "You said you didn't want people to die! You said you wanted to stop the needless killing!"

"And you fell for it." Tyrone laughed. "As soon as I saw Sinbad, I knew what was going on. You could say I'm somewhat of a fan. He would never have agreed to help us if he knew that we in it for the money."

Jeanne's fist clenched tightly and watched as Access and Fin flew over to Sinbad's dead body. "This is unforgivable…"

"Doesn't really matter what you think, now does it?" He pointed the gun over at her and prepared to fire. "First Sinbad, now Jeanne. Does it get any better than this? I'll go down as the best criminal ever!"

Jeanne's eyes narrowed and she leapt into the air. Tyrone opened his mouth to laugh, but instead let out a sharp yell of pain as a hard kick was placed on his hand. "Checkmate." Sinbad said easily as Jeanne's ribbon encircled the gun. A second passed and he caught the white pawn that fell.

"H-How? You should be _dead_!" Tyrone held his hand and took a step back. His eyes looked from side to side. "Where are… Impossible!" He staggered back, seeing Michael and his other friends tied up already.

"First rule of business, yo." Sinbad mocked his voice and tore the tank top he was wearing, revealing armor under it. "Wear a bullet proof vest. Jeanne knew I had it on when I hugged her earlier."

Tyrone didn't have anytime to answer as Jeanne's foot connected with his face. "Tonight we have once again stolen the deception of beauty!" She sang out as the police ran in the building. "Adieu!"

Looking around, they were shocked to see the two opposing gang members all either tied up or knocked out. The leader of the task force slowly walked over to the moaning body of Tyrone and reached down to pick up two letters that were placed on his chest. Even though they looked different, both said the same thing. One was in English and the other Japanese.

_Tonight we stole the beauty of the golden gun and left a gift for those who also seek to keep peace._

_ Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne_

_ Thief Sinbad_

_

* * *

_  
"You sure it's for the best? Not saying goodbye?" Chiaki asked Maron as they stood at the airport. Jack waved to them as he drove off with a big smile on his face. Chiaki had tipped him quite nicely.

"Mm. It's better this way." Maron took his hand as they walked to their flight. "It's okay, I'm strong. I'm glad they are nice people, and I'm sure deep down they love each other- and me. We'll always be a family."

"I see," He gave her hand a small squeeze and smiled. "Well then, Access and Fin said they would meet us in Japan after they went to Heaven to confirm the events. What say we get home and have a big party with everyone?"

"I'd like that." Maron took her seat on the plane and touched the glass window. A small smile graced her lips, despite the events that unfurled. "I can't help but have a good feeling." Her expression got happier when she turned back to her boyfriend. "Fate owes me."

"Hey now," He smirked down at her as she lifted his arm and slid under it.

"You know what, Chiaki?"

"What's that?"

"I love you."

"I know." He laughed lightly. "I have the best girl on the planet. Damn, I'm cool."

"And humble."

"And handsome."

"And full of himself."

"And in love," He kissed her, making her beam up at him.

* * *

"Finally!" Chiaki collapsed against the wall next to Maron's apartment door and panted. He had two suitcases in each hand, straining to keep a hold of them. Across both shoulders were straps to even more luggage and on his back was yet another suitcase. "I can't go on…"

"Don't be a wuss," She sat her single roll-along suitcase to the side and inserted her key, turning it slowly just to tease him.

"Come on, Maron!"

"Sure, sure!" She opened the door and stepped in gratefully to be back home. "Fin! We're back Fin!"

"Welcome back you guys!" Access's voice called to them, sounding more mature than usual.

Looking up, the luggage fell from Chiaki's hold. In front of him stood a full-size version of his angel friend leaning against the doorway. "Access, dude! Did you get a promotion or something?" Chiaki walked over to him, seeing his black wings. "They're still black."

"Don't rub it in," he looked dejectedly down at the floor. "It's only temporarily. I'll turn back tomorrow."

"Is Fin like that?" Maron asked, a little uneasy.

"Oh yeah, you should see her!" Access's face lit up, and even had a very small bit of blush on it. "She's beautiful."

"Maron! Welcome back!" Fin's voice came from the kitchen.

"Is she cooking?" Chiaki asked, pointing through the hallway to where the kitchen was.

"No, she's not." Access's face twisted into a teasing smile. "Someone else is."

"Someone else?" Maron asked confused, walking past the boys and leaving them to pick up the luggage so she could ask Fin what was going on. She froze, however, at the door leading into her living room. "…Dad… Mom…?"

"After we explained everything to God, he allowed us to change into these forms for a few days," Access told Chiaki, who wasn't moving. "We were told that we could be seen by humans so we had to be careful. Of course, there were two people on earth who had a bad misunderstanding about two very nice people…"

Maron ran from Chiaki's sight and into her living room, where she promptly started to sob out loudly as she hugged her parents each in turn.

"So, they know? Everything?" Chiaki asked, shocked. "That's why you're big?"

His angel nodded at him, stepping aside and allowing him to walk into the apartment fully. "They've known for a few days now so the shock has already blown over."

Takumi stood in front of him with a sheepish grin. "I guess I owe you an apology…" Maron looked over at him from her mother's side, eyes sparkling from tears of happiness. She swallowed a sob and smiled again at them. "Can we start over?" He held out his hand. "I'm Kusakabe Takumi, Maron's father."

Chiaki reached out his hand and took it. "Nagoya Chiaki, Maron's boyfriend and protector of the Divine Wind thief Jeanne… Sinbad."

"Nice to meet you."

"Same here." They shook once and Maron tackled him in a hug.

"This is great… We're all here together…"

"Come on now, dear, help me finish cooking!" Her mother asked her with a small laugh. "I have no idea where anything is!"

Chiaki gave her a goofy grin when she looked up at him before running off to help her mother. His eyes glanced around the apartment, knowing it would suddenly be a lot more crowded. Fin gave him a wave from across the room and he once again pondered how long they would stay that size. It would be a pain in the butt to hide Access if people could openly see him.

"You look a little shocked, partner" Access told him as Takumi went into the kitchen to help as well. "Aren't you happy?"

"Yeah, I am, but…"

"But what?"

"I won't get to see her in her underwear anymore…" Fin slapped him across the back of his head, making him fall over. "Hey, that hurt!"

"Don't get bad thoughts about my Maron!" Fin scolded him, bending over to get in his face. "I have my eye on you!"

"You and everyone else."

"Chiaki! Come set the table!" Maron demanded of him from the kitchen. "After dinner we still have to unpack! And then you have to help Mom and Dad move things up here tomorrow!"

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah," Maron took his arm in her hand when he reached for the drawer that held the silver wear. Looking at her, she winked and leaned up to whisper into his ear. His face slowly colored and when she was done he looked at her dreamily. "Really? Tonight?" She nodded at him and suddenly Chiaki started to help out more enthusiastically

* * *

A/N: Yay, it's done! It ended a little different than I thought it was, but oh well. Hope you enjoyed it! 


End file.
